Infinite Stratos: Our Darkest Days
by Snarky Miracles
Summary: One year prior to the events of Infinite Stratos, Josephine Williams, an impoverished but ambitious, sesquipedalian, book worm leaves home to make the most of her opportunity. Not only must she contend with the elitism of the IS academy but also the mysterious and vulgar Maria Cross, the ace McKenna Tremblay, the religious Jennifer Hawkins, and the eccentric Tatenashi Sarashki.
1. Chapter 1

Now with a TV Tropes page! Search for "Infinite Stratos: Our Darkest Days" on TV Tropes. Character and IS unit art included.

* * *

 _ **Infinite Stratos: Our Darkest Days**_

 _ **Snarky Miracles**_

 _ **Created by:**_ _Dilis, Miriya, and Teira._

* * *

" _ **All for one and one for all."**_

 _ **-Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers**_

* * *

 **Somewhere over the Gulf of Anadyr**

 _The aurora borealis illuminated the night sky as the battle raged on. A teenage girl with long golden blonde hair watched closely as the engagement commenced exactly according to her own design. Everything was exactly where she wanted it to be. But she had no time to be proud of herself any more than she had time to properly appreciate the beauty of the northern lights._

 _One of her allies charged at an enemy unit with a giant purple energy sword and started slashing with unrestrained fury against her enemy's defense shield._

 _"Maria. Don't get carried away. Pull back on my signal. Kenny? Are you in position?"_

 _"Yes. Locked and loaded!" announced a brown-haired girl standing on the shore in an army green colored, massively armored Infinite Stratos with a giant cannon held in both of her mechanical hands._

 _"Maria get out of there now! Kenny fire once she's clear!"_

 _The raven-haired girl with the giant sword circled back and away from her opponent. Once she heard the distinctive sound of the high explosive shell being fired from the massive cannon of her friend's Infinite Stratos she accelerated with an Ignition Boost to clear the blast zone as the shell connected with its target._

 _"Perfect shot Kenny! Maria, re-engage now!"_

 _Now she turned her attention to the next fight. A blue haired girl with a same colored Infinite Stratos was engaged in close combat with another IS unit using a very large jousting lance type weapon._

 _"Tatenashi. You need to pull her back, you're out of position. But don't do it too quickly, we can't have her catching on! Make it look like she's driving you back."_

 _"I'm doing my best Josie, but this bitch is a handful. I don't know if I can keep this up!"_

 _She almost believed what she heard in response. But she knew Tatenashi better than that. She was saying it to inflate her opponent's ego._

 _"Maya. Tatenashi is coming towards you now. Are you ready?"_

 _"All set! Back off now and clear my line of fire!" yelled the verdant haired bespectacled woman as she looked through the scope of the large sniper rifle in her arms. Once the blue haired student was away, she squeezed the trigger and fired three shots into the target, hitting three times._

 _The blonde girl nodded at the precision with which her instructions were being carried out. "Perfect! Now get in there and help finish her off!"_

 _"Josie. I'm in trouble here! I can't keep this up! I lost my shield, and my energy is getting low!"_

 _"Jenny? Where are you?"_

 _"Half a click north of the big rock. This bitch won't cooperate!"_

 _"I'm on my way!"_

 _"No Josie. I'll get there faster! Take over for me here!"_

 _"You're right. Move it, Maria! I'm coming in!" the blonde announced while drawing two swords out of the two massive shield bits floating behind her back._

 _"Maria! If you fuck this up I swear to God I'm gonna tear you limb from fucking limb!" yelled Jenny with her thick Australian accent._

 _"Tazzy. When I tell you. Disengage and retreat. I'm going supersonic, and hell's coming with me!"_

 _The raven-haired girl accelerated towards her ally at the top speed of her IS unit while the blonde moved in and intercepted the enemy unit which tried to pursue her._

 _"Going somewhere?!" she yelled at the enemy pilot while viciously lashing out at her with both of her swords._

 _Meanwhile, the raven-haired girl tightened her grip on her sword and moved towards the third enemy who had the upper hand over her ally. "Get away from her now!"_

 _The girl in the red IS didn't hesitate to cut all her engine power and fall away from her opponent as the girl with the giant energy sword came in at full speed and collided with the enemy Fang Quake unit like a supersonic meteor, knocking her away from her as she passed through and slowed until she could turn to attack again._

" _ **METEOR! RELEASE ALL SAFETIES! FULL POWER TO THE ASCALON!"**_ _she yelled at the intensity of the beam grew even brighter. Energy started crackling from the hilt of the blade as it became dangerously overclocked. She raised the sword up over her head and rapidly closed the distance again to her new target who looked at her in wide-eyed horror through her now broken helmet visor._

* * *

 **Chapter One**

" **School is in session!"**

"Congratulations to all of you for making it into this school. I'm your Homeroom teacher, Chifuyu Orimura. You will address me as Miss Orimura. From the Japanese students, I will also accept being addressed as Orimura-sensei, or just plain Sensei. Those of you who know of me will know my patience is razor thin. Those of you who by some miracle don't know me will come to know that I have zero tolerance for a lack of discipline."

Josephine Williams struggled to resist the temptation to pick up her book and read from it. It was the first day and it simply wouldn't do to make a bad impression. Their teacher, Chifuyu Orimura also didn't look like someone who would tolerate any slip-ups so she reached out and simply pushed the book a little further aside as if it would help her further resist the temptation to escape into the swashbuckling world of the Three Musketeers.

Instead, as introductions began, she paid her attention to the students as they introduced themselves.

The first to rise and make herself known was a girl with long black hair down to her middle back. Her uniform didn't feature the same ribbon everyone else wore, instead she wore a blue necktie with a simple knot. Her most striking feature was her pair of crimson eyes, the color of blood. Her looks alone made her seem like the girl she least wanted to piss off in the class. If she were a character on TV, she'd instantly recognize her as the villain. But her personality and looks seemed at complete odds.

"Hi everyone! My name is Maria Cross. I'm from Anchorage, Alaska. I like Ice Skating and Ice Hockey. But my hobbies are mostly musical. I play Guitar, Double Bass, Violin, Cello, Drums, and the Piano. I love music, music is love, music is life, music is happiness! Also the double bass I brought with me is really loud, so if you don't like my music, sad day for you!"

The teacher turned a deathly glare on her that had the American girl cowering in fear. "I swear they put all the crazies in my class on purpose... Be aware that I'm your dorm supervisor and if I hear complaints about loud music I'll show you some of my favorite uses for piano wire! There's a music club, and there's also a soundproof room on the ground floor of each dorm building for playing musical instruments. Now sit down and shut up!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Next!"

Josephine quickly found herself losing interest again and before she realized it she was holding the book in her hand. She hadn't opened it yet though, so she quickly put it back down and refocused her attention back to her classmates.

A girl with long brown hair tied up with a green scrunchy into one long ponytail going down below her waist stood up with a nervous look on her face, she scanned the room with amber colored eyes before nervously taking a deep breath.

"Hello everyone. My name is McKenna Tremblay, I'm from Whitehorse, which is a city in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Near the border with Alaska actually," she said while turning a smile on the raven-haired American girl from earlier. "Hobbies, I guess I'm mostly interested in Military History, I also like working with machines, I build remote-controlled cars, drones, models, and I can also fix real cars and even tanks! But I also enjoy playing games like World of Tanks and Warships. I'm a bit of a geek really... But I also like being in the outdoors, especially in the winter, I have a cat, I also enjoy ice skating, many sports, and I love, love, love Ice Hockey! I'm rambling, so I'll sit down and shut up now..."

Chifuyu nodded, "Good call. Next!"

Finally, it was her own turn. She slowly stood up and looked around the room with her blue eyes. She could feel the eyes of the class eyeing and assessing her long blonde hair, or her shapely legs, some were enviously staring at the curves of her body, especially the American girl who was shamelessly drooling over every inch of her, it made her highly uncomfortable, and all she could do was get it over with.

"Good morning to you all. My name is Josephine Williams. I'm from Leeds in the North of England. I enjoy reading. One can almost always find me with a book in my hand," she explained while holding up her copy of The Three Musketeers for emphasis. "But I also quite enjoy playing online games as well. I play Star Wars The Old Republic, and Guild Wars Two, among other things. Not much else to say about myself without boring you all to death so I'll sit down and shut up as well."

"Excellent decision," complimented the teacher with a small grin.

Josephine sat back down with a huff. Her eyes turned to her left where she spotted that American girl staring at her. The girl quickly looked forward again once she'd been caught and Josephine could have sworn she saw her blushing. Rather than contemplate the implications she quickly picked up her book and opened it up to read.

"Alright. Let's get started with the class. Open up your textbooks to the first chapter."

The raven-haired woman maintained an indomitable and intimidating posture as she stepped up to the podium in the middle of the front of the class and started explaining to the students about the basics of the Infinite Stratos, or 'IS' units. Her interest in class waned very quickly as there was nothing new to her being discussed.

"Williams!"

Josephine quickly looked up from her book "Yes ma'am!"

"Answer the question!"

"The Pilot of an Infinite Stratos does not experience the negative effects of g-forces because of the Passive Inertia Control System. That's why an IS can move at high speed and maneuver without the pilot losing consciousness or other ill effects."

"And what is the opinion of chivalry that Dumas presents in The Three Musketeers?"

"That it doesn't always work. Simple ideals don't always give you the answer to every problem. Chivalry was intended to guide those who followed its tenants towards a good and moral life but the story is full of chivalrous people doing unchivalrous things in the name of chivalry."

"Impressive multitasking. But if I catch you not paying attention again I'm going to smack you with War and Peace! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." she replied while shoving her bookmark in and closing the book.

* * *

 **Leeds, England**

 **One year ago**

 _In an old run down school, in what could well have been an affluent part of the city at some point in the past, Josephine was seated in a classroom and reading Machiavelli while a history class took place around her._

 _The city, like many others, had fallen on hard times. The school grew more dilapidated with each passing day as the city around it did. Everything became a constant reminder of the difficult times in which they lived._

 _Without care or mind to anyone or anything that wasn't the book in her hands, including the instructor, she educated herself on what she considered to be more important topics._

 _The teacher cleared his throat loudly for everyone to hear, but the student whose attention he wanted still wasn't paying him any mind. "Miss Williams. Would you care to answer the question?"_

 _With her eyes still on the book, she began to address his question. The simple fact was, she heard everything, but she simply cared for nothing._

 _"After the Second World War, the South African National Party came to power in 1948 on a ticket of racial segregation and support for poor whites. They passed laws similar to the Jim Crow laws in the United States at the time, but also arguably harsher. Apartheid eventually came to an end in 1990. If you only read this book of fairy tales, which I'll laughingly call a history textbook, they lived happily ever after. But if you spent a little time reading the news on your smartphones instead of playing Angry Birds or Candy Crush, you might know that they're well on their way to doing Apartheid the other way around now."_

 _"You didn't even look up from your book Miss Williams. Do you honestly hold this class and myself in such contempt?"_

 _"If I had any thoughts to spare on those subjects, I probably would."_

 _"Wow… What's with Josephine today?" whispered one of her classmates._

 _"No idea… But she's asking for it…" whispered another in response._

 _"Well. We can discuss this further while you're in detention. Let's move on with class."_

 _She sighed dejectedly while forcing her concentration back onto the book in her hands. Hopefully, Mr. Machiavelli would have some words of wisdom to help her solve this difficulty she was having._

 _After class broke she was held up by her teacher for her detention. But he seemed more interested in conversing with her than he was in punishing her for the moment._

 _"Miss Williams… Please explain to me exactly what your problem is. You have the best grades in this school, and I'm told you've even received an acceptance to the Infinite Stratos Academy. You have everything going for you. So what may I ask came over you that you would put it all in jeopardy like this?"_

 _She sighed before looking at him with her sapphire blue eyes. "I don't know what came over me to behave as I did. I apologize."_

 _"This wasn't the first time for you. Nor do I suspect will it be the last. So what is it exactly?"_

 _"Do you actually want an answer?" she asked meekly._

 _"Yes. I do."_

 _She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts before explaining the best she could. "I just have all this anger inside me that I don't know how to control or ventilate. The more I learn about the state of the world, the more furious I become. I mean… Just look around us. This is shit. This is absolute shit! Why did it have to be this way? Because your generation had enormous wealth and mismanaged everything. They created a situation where we withdrew from the EU and the single market. Effectively committing economic suicide. My parents both have to work two jobs each and can barely even keep the lights on in our house! It'll be even worse for my generation! There are no jobs for us. Every year people graduate and find an empty job market. Same for those lucky ones who get to go to University. They graduate into nothing..."_

 _"Interesting. These are hardly things a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl should be concerned with you know."_

 _"Nobody else seems concerned. When people starve in the streets, there's no concern. When riots break out, there's some mild concern which results in a brutal police crackdown. The rich stay rich, and everyone else has to live on the meager scraps they leave us. I can't abide it. And I hate that I'm powerless to do anything about any of it."_

 _"Is that why you want to try to become an IS pilot?"_

 _"I'm not going to try. I will become one. They're even building me a Personal IS and soon they'll start training me on it. I'm going to become a Representative Contender for England. I'll use that power to make a difference. However small it might ultimately be. I can't just do nothing."_

 _"Well. I hope you achieve your goals, Miss Williams. But I have to issue a very stern warning to you. Even a future Mondo Grosso Champion has to mind her manners in school. Try not to have any more incidents. You don't want to go to that academy with black marks on your records."_

 _"Yes sir… I'll do my utmost."_

* * *

Josephine got up from her desk after class had been dismissed. Thankfully the day was light and went by rather quickly due to it being intended for introductions, orientation, and fundamentals. Only a complete moron who didn't bother to even look at the Reference Manual before coming to the Academy would have had a hard time with anything they were covering.

She wandered out of the class building and through the Academy grounds. The school was beautiful, especially compared to her previous educational institution in Leeds. Nothing was dilapidated. Everything was new, modern, and well maintained.

The school itself was located on an island across the bay from a city in Japan and shared the island with various Infinite Stratos related research facilities, among which was the corporation who produced her own IS frame. Also a place where she would doubtlessly be spending much time doing boring scientific chores.

Rather than dwell on the tedious chores that came with being an IS pilot, she refocused onto the positive aspects. Such as the island being connected to the mainland by a convenient monorail system, and all of Japan was connected by an even more convenient bullet train system. It was her first time outside of England and the biggest part of her just wanted to go explore. In a just a few hours she could be anywhere in this country. She wondered if she'd even be allowed to travel for tourism during the weekends and made a mental note to check the student handbook for any relevant regulations.

The English girl followed a cobblestone path with convenient holographic information floating on it to guide students and visitors around to their destinations. Coming upon a small stonework bridge that crossed a flowing stream with a fountain inside of it on her left. She found it to be that utterly spectacular and couldn't help the bright smile that came over her face.

* * *

Number 1042. That was her dorm room. Arriving in front of the building with her luggage in hand, she was amazed at how spectacular it was. She could only describe it as a modern structure right out of a utopian science fiction movie. If it looked as good on the inside as it did on the outside, she felt like she'd probably never want to leave this place.

When she eventually reached her room, she concluded that she did indeed never want to leave. It was simply unbelievable to her how much this dorm room was less like what she expected a school dorm to be, and how much more it felt like it was a five-star hotel room.

The first thing she saw by the door when she entered was a convenient kitchen space against the wall on her right. On her left, she saw an open door leading into a bathroom. Or perhaps more accurately, a washroom. To her disappointment, it only had a walk in shower and no bathtub. But a bathtub was one luxury she could do without if it meant she'd get to live in a place like this.

She then set down her bags against the wall and stepped into the washroom. She flipped the light switch and widened her eyes in wonder. Everything was clean. Not to suggest she was used to filthy bathrooms, but such luxury was never something she'd ever experienced. This was all immaculate! Shiny chrome faucets, pristine white basins, and everything was _clean_. In fact, everything looked brand new. It had two faucets and sinks with a large mirror, which was good because it meant that both she and her eventual roommate could wash up without getting in each other's way.

There was also one of those overly complicated Japanese toilettes she'd heard about, but on close inspection, she saw the control panel it had on the side was in both English and Japanese, which made this porcelain version of a Star Trek Captain's chair just a bit less intimidating.

Next, she opened the door to inspect the walk-in shower. Unsurprisingly at this point, it was also pristine. Next to the shower, there was a small closet with a towel rack attached to it. Inside the cabinet, she found all the necessary cleaning supplies with which the dorm room's immaculate state of cleanliness could be maintained. There was a letter attached to the door which she took a moment to read outlining how the cleaning supplies were provided with compliments of the IS Academy and where students could go for more when it runs out. The letter encouraged students to be tidy and, in the strongest possible terms, outlined harsh penalties for failure to meet the standards of cleanliness. It also stated that room inspections would be conducted at random.

With that information in mind, she closed the cabinet and walked out of the washroom before turning off the light from outside the bathroom. She then inspected the kitchen area and found it equally pristine.

There was a nice deep sink built into the marble countertop, and a safe distance from the sink was a glass-topped electric stove with two burners. Basic necessities like an electric kettle and microwave were provided as well. Inside a drawer, she found sets of cutlery were also provided. In a cabinet beside the drawer were various plates with the theme colors of the IS Academy, and logo emblazoned in the center. Above the counter were some cabinets as well where she found matching IS Academy coffee mugs. Conspicuously absent were any kitchen knives so she figured she'd have to provide those herself or buy ready meals. The latter somewhat defeated the purpose of having a fully equipped kitchen so she would prefer the former.

She next walked into the living room and smiled at what she saw. The first thing she noticed was that the room was meant for three people. Against the wall and to the left towards the wall with the washroom was a dual bunk bed, and to the right was a single bed. All of them were decently sized twin beds and looked very comfortable. The arrangement of the beds left some space for a small dining table with three chairs around it. The wall to the washroom also had an enormous TV built into it. Though she knew it would probably be a struggle to access the back of it to plug in a game console.

She looked to her right and saw that the windows also revealed that they had a balcony! She quickly opened the door and rushed outside to lean up against the bulwark and take a deep breath of the ocean breeze coming in from all around the island. The view was spectacular. She could see the whole city on the mainland from her vantage point, as well as much of the greenery of the island.

* * *

 **Leeds, England**

 **One year ago**

 _Josephine returned directly home after school. It was rather miserable and wet outside so visiting the park to read, or any other activities were rendered unappealing on account of the gloomy weather._

 _Her parents were both out. There was nothing unusual about that. Until she started making money from being a Representative Contender they had to work obscene hours to keep food on the table and the lights on in the house._

 _On her way through the household, she passed by a small box plugged into a power socket mounted on the wall near the kitchen. She read the number and saw the house was running low on kilowatt hours. It was such a sad and pathetic state of affairs that allowed for private companies to resell electricity on a prepaid basis for six times what it actually cost._

 _All electricity now had to be on this prepaid system. Ostensibly it was so that people would be more conservative with electricity and reduce the nation's carbon footprint. They also stated that it would create more jobs, but that never happened due to the system being fully automated. The points of sale were the already established giant supermarket chains. So she, like many others, knew it was a complete and utter farce engineered solely to make more money for the power companies who got a bigger share of every prepaid kilowatt-hour sold, which was double or triple what they would have made before._

 _With a disgruntled groan to express her extreme displeasure with the situation, she walked away and off towards her room. She'd have to rely on her laptop's battery power if she wanted to get any gaming done tonight, and worse still, to conserve power, she'd have to wait until much later to get the most out of the time her battery would last and miss a lot of things online that she was looking forward to participating in._

 _She set down her bookbag on an old chair and took off her school jacket to hang neatly in her closet. She then left the room to go wash up. She turned a creaky knob in the bathroom sink until water started to spit from it rather than flow. There was always air the pipes, and nobody could seem to figure out why that was. Josephine simply concluded that the building was showing its age. World War Two had only recently ended when this building was brand new, and nobody had since given any thought to modernizing the plumbing._

 _After washing her hands and face she returned to her room where she plopped herself down on her old bed which moaned and creaked at every one of her movements. In the past, she'd found it annoying, but she'd grown used to it. It was as comfortable as she could ask for. She reached over to her nightstand and picked up another book to read._

 _Her entire room was nothing but scattered books and a small makeshift computer desk made from a wooden board she found somewhere and some metal poles which her father stuck to the wood for her, on which she kept her laptop and even more books._

 _The entire collection of old books came to her from her grandmother. A collection she and her grandfather had accumulated over their lifetime. A collection from which her grandmother always gave her something to read whenever she visited. A woman to whom she credited her education thus far, and would doubtlessly continue to into the far future as well._

 _Most people in the world knew how to read. But her grandmother taught her something even more important than that. She taught her how to comprehend. It was an important difference which she didn't take for granted and worked hard to maintain and sharpen._

 _In the words of George RR Martin's Tyrion Lannister in A Game of Thrones; "A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge."_

* * *

Noises from inside the room pulled her away from her admiration for the beauty of the island she was on. Figuring it must be one or both of her new roommates she turned around and walked back inside to greet them properly.

Before she could say a single word, she ended up raising a curious eyebrow at what she saw. A girl who was just shy of a full five feet in height with black hair and crimson eyes. She immediately recognized the girl as her American classmate. But what really piqued her curiosity was how much luggage she was holding as if it were nothing. She suspected the same load would be difficult to manage for a grown man but it didn't look like it bothered her in the slightest.

In her left arm, she held what she recognized as a hard case for a very large musical instrument, one that was even bigger than she was. Remembering that the girl said she played the double bass she guessed that's what that was. On her back, she had a soft case for what she also guessed was an electric guitar. In her right arm, was another hard case for what she further guessed was an acoustic guitar. Then, slung over both her shoulders were duffle bags filled with what she presumed were her clothes and other personal effects.

"Do you by chance need some help with any of that?"

"Nope. I've got it. I carried this shit across the world to get here, I'll be damned if I'm not going to finish what I started. Getting those fuckers to let me keep all this when I left was hard enough. God and Uncle Sam. Two bastards who give, and also take away. Well. Not from me!" she explained while she started dumping her load on the single bed nearest the window.

She glared incredulously at the newcomer, "Don't you think you should wait for the third member of our household to arrive before selecting which bed you'll occupy?"

"No point. That'll simply be postponing the inevitable. I'll be taking the bottom bunk. It looks cozy in here, and it's away from god's prying eyes."

"That's two blasphemous things you've said inside of sixty seconds. That's rather frighteningly impressive."

"Are you a believer?"

"No. I'm an atheist. I merely attended a Catholic School," she answered before deciding to take a seat at the dining table.

"You have my sympathy. I was raised Evangelical. Which means keeping the strictest adherence to the literal word of the Bible. Other's are undeservingly handed the title, but we hold the distinction of actually being the _**real**_ American Taliban."

"But you're not a believer yourself I take it?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders as she set about unpacking her clothes into one of the cabinets by the bunk beds. "Yes and no. It's complicated. I believe that there is a god, but I also believe that if you take him at his literal word like the Evangelicals say you should, then he is someone who is worthy of little more than my contempt."

"So you believe in god, but you don't believe he should be worshiped?"

"Exactly."

"So why believe at all? How does that work?"

"It's a contradiction. I know. But it's not any different than say, the US President. Even if he doesn't represent me, my views, or my policies, he's still there and doing whatever he can to fuck with my life. If you ask me, that's god as well."

Josephine found herself laughing at that explanation. "Yes. I think I see your point."

"Oh… What a bitch I am…" she said after putting whatever was in her hands into the closet and then quickly walked over to the dining table where she put out her hand to the blonde girl. "I'm Maria Cross."

Josephine smiled and stood up to shake hands with her. "It's quite alright. I remember you from class today. I'm Josephine Williams."

"Yeah. I remember you too. You're kinda unforgettable."

"You were staring a little hard back there."

"Yeah.. sorry about that. I couldn't help it. I've sort of been sequestered away from the world for a long time now and… well…. have you seen you?"

"Yes I have…" she said while balling her fists. She clenched them and relaxed them to bleed off the adrenalin rush she was getting. "I'd thank you not to make a big deal of it."

"Whatever you want. But does it bother you at all that I'm gay? I mean. If you're uncomfortable with me because of that I could ask for-"

Josephine was flabbergasted at how her actions could have been misinterpreted. "No no! Not at all! That doesn't bother me in the least. It doesn't matter to me in the least either."

"I appreciate that. Thanks," the raven-haired girl replied in a calm voice before going back to her unpacking.

A moment later there was a knock at the door before it slowly swung open. "Excuse me. Sorry. I heard voices. May I come in?" asked a voice from the entrance way.

"If this is the room you've been assigned then you most certainly may," answered a smiling Josephine.

"It is. But. I just didn't want to disturb anyone," she answered shyly while walking in and shutting the door quietly behind her.

"That's very considerate of you, but we're all going to be living together. So you shouldn't be afraid of something like that. There's also absolutely no need to be so shy."

"Yes. Well… I just don't want to seem rude," the girl answered while walking into the room.

Josephine walked up to meet her halfway. She didn't have much with her. Just a laptop bag and one vertical suitcase which she rolled on its four wheels beside her.

"Don't worry about being rude. Our third roommate raises the bar on that so high you couldn't reach it if you tried."

The girl audibly gulped at that and slowly nodded her head, unsure of how else to respond.

"You were in class with us. McKenna, I think that's what you said your name was, am I right?"

"Yes. That's right. And you're Josephine. I remember you too. It's nice to meet you," she said while offering out her hand.

Josephine shook hands with her and smiled kindly.

In the same instant, their third roommate was there and quickly snatched up her hand. "Maria Cross. Nice to meet you!"

"McKenna Tremblay. Nice to meet you too," she replied while taking the shorter girl's hand.

"This is so great! I haven't had any friends for so long! And you're both so pretty! Lemmie help you both unpack!"

"Have you finished already?" asked the English girl.

"Oh yeah. All done. I don't have much in clothing. My life is in my music!"

"You mentioned that in class. But are you actually any good?" asked the Canadian while eyeing the musical instruments on the bed.

"I guess that's a matter of opinion. All art is subjective."

"Well. Play us something while we unpack," suggested Josephine.

"Sure. Happy to!"

McKenna raised a hand, "Just a quick question. Sleeping arrangements?"

"Maria called the bottom bunk," she replied with a polite gesture to the American girl.

"I don't mind taking the top then. If that's alright?"

"Of course it is. I'd probably be most comfortable down here anyway. Closer to the power outlet."

"Fair enough then," said the Canadian with a quick nod.

Josephine looked down at the floor awkwardly, "Umm… There's just one more thing I should tell you both…"

"What's that?" asked the Canadian brunette.

"I sleep with a light on. I'm really very scared of the dark… So I hope that won't trouble either of you?"

The American girl shrugged her shoulders. "Lights on or lights off. Whatever. No bother to me. Lights on just means I get to see a sleeping beauty," she then concluded with a playful wink.

"That's not creepy at all…" muttered the Canadian.

"Not at all no…"

Maria waved her hand dismissively, "You'll get used to me not having a filter between my brain and my mouth. Either that or you can smother me with a pillow. But please make sure its synthetic. I'm allergic to feathers. Oh shit. Speaking of which..." she then ran over to pull the covers off her chosen bed and inspected the pillow. "Oh good. They're synthetic. Oh… And so soft..." she added while hugging the pillow.

Josephine and McKenna looked at each other and both of them started twisting their fingers beside their heads to tell each other their roommate was insane.

* * *

After she had finished unpacking, McKenna took a few moments to find all the power outlets in the dorm room and see where she could set up her old laptop. The room had two computers on the long desk attached to the wall, which was strange because the room was set up for three people. So the fact that there were only two desktops was strange. But it was also irrelevant since nobody in the room seemed interested in using the desktops. The computer screens were attached to the wall with mechanical arms, so she just moved them all out of the way and set up there near the power outlet.

Meanwhile, the American was channel surfing on the big screen TV. Sitting on the floor with her back to Josephine's bed. She was dressed in a pair of black pajama pants and an old white t-shirt that had small holes in it. It was the kind of t-shirt McKenna would have thrown out ages ago, but the raven-haired girl was either too attached to, too lazy, or even too cheap to replace it. She was also wearing rainbow-colored socks with grip treads on the bottoms.

"Four hundred accessible channels. Most of them in Japanese," Maria muttered indignantly.

"That's weird. Why would there be Japanese TV channels on a Japanese cable provider in Japan?" asked a sarcastic McKenna.

"Oh! You made a funny! Ha! Ha! I mean, you gotta go through like three hundred Jap channels before you get to anything watchable. Blah. Do you know how to get rid of the age restriction? Most of the channels are blocked by it! Like HBO and shit."

"Why do I feel like you just wanna be able to watch porn on the big screen?"

"We can get porn on this thing?" asked a wide-eyed Maria.

"You been living in a hole or something?"

"Something…" muttered Maria with an inscrutable tone.

A moment later Josephine emerged from the bathroom wearing dark green pajama pants and a white t-shirt with the image of Chester Bennington and the years 1976-2017 on it. Folded neatly in her hands was her school uniform which she carried over to her closet and neatly put away for the next day.

"How can you walk around barefooted? Doesn't it gross you out?" asked Maria while observing Josephine's bare feet.

"Doesn't bother me at all. I think this room is quite clean as it is," answered the blonde.

"You went to the bathroom to change?" asked McKenna.

"And to wash up. So what are you two doing?"

"Seeing if there's anything good on the TV," answered Maria.

"Playing World of Warships," answered McKenna without looking up from her laptop.

"Oh! We have Wi-fi here?" asked Josephine with a cheerful smile.

"Of course we do. The username is your full name the way it's written on your student ID and the password will be your student ID number."

"Very good!" exclaimed the cheerful blonde as she merrily skipped her way over towards her own laptop bag and started breaking out her equipment. "Haven't been able to touch any of my MMOs in over three months now. This will be excellent! Oh wait..." she looked down at her wristwatch with disappointment. "Eight-hour time difference, it's still way too early in Europe for anyone to be online and doing anything."

"The best thing about Warships, there are always enough people online to get a game going," said a happy McKenna.

"Hey, Canadian girl! So can you disable the parental controls or not?" asked Maria.

"My name is McKenna... And yes, sure, just let me finish this game."

Josephine raised up a curious eyebrow, "You do know that anything you want to watch which might be blocked you can stream for free on the internet right?"

"Yeah, but I don't have a computer or a smartphone, and also, this TV is freaking huge, and it's in mother fucking 8k! It's got better resolution than real life!" exclaimed Maria.

"Yes, but everything you can watch is still in regular HD or 4k at best. Only like a handful of movies are in 8k," explained McKenna.

"Meanwhile my laptop can barely sustain thirty fps at 1080p on low graphics for a thirteen-year-old MMO," muttered Josephine. "Being poor sucks if you're a gamer."

McKenna nodded solemnly, "Same here… MMOs need your processor more than your GPU, so if you've got a crappy CPU like me, you're boned. I also badly need an upgrade… I wanna get sponsored by one of the really kick ass tech companies who'll give me the best top of the line gaming laptop to play with."

Josephine looked wistfully up at the ceiling, "That would be amazing…"

* * *

" _Did she disconnect?"_ asked a voice on Josephine's laptop.

" _Serapis disconnected guys."_ confirmed another voice.

"RRRAHH! That bastard hit me so hard I disconnected!" yelled Josephine into her laptop's microphone.

" _Haha! Hurry up and reconnect, we're keeping your alive, but just barely!"_ yelled someone back over the laptop's speakers.

" _Nobody told me we had an actual girl in this guild. What flavor of a Brit are ya?"_

"Salt and vinegar!" she answered with a barely stifled laugh.

" _Damn Serapis, your voice is like... honey in my ears!" exclaimed one of the guild members over the voice chat._

"Then I wonder what my foot in your arse will be like?"

The sounds of laughter poured out of the laptop's speakers and flooded the room.

" _So Serapis, how's the academy?"_

"Only the first day. But I can't complain. Training for these last few months was intense, but I finally get to play again."

" _What academy? She in the army or something?"_

" _Less talking more healing!"_

"I'm logging back on my character now. Heals are coming. Just hang on a little longer."

"I'm trying to sleep here!" yelled McKenna from the top bunk.

"Sorry dear. I'll try to keep it down," she answered back without looking away from her screen as she managed to get back into her game and resume playing. "Sorry everyone, that was one of my roommates. We're being too loud."

" _No headset?"_

"Can't find it. I think I forgot it back in England, so I'm gonna have a buy a new one when they let me out of school this weekend."

" _They let you out of army schools?"_

"I'm not in an army school, I'm at the IS academy."

" _NO FUCKING WAY?!"_

" _SERIOUSLY?!"_

"Will you all shut up?! My roommates are sleeping and you're screaming!"

"You're screaming too Josephine!" yelled McKenna.

"Oh, thank you very much. Just yell out my real name to everyone. Thank you!"

"Not my fault you don't use push to talk!"

"Can't stop healing to push a button to talk!"

"First the lights are all on. That's bad enough. But it's four AM and you're raiding in an MMO. Can't you play at a decent hour?" asked the Canadian.

"Time difference. Sorry…" answered a meek Josephine.

" _Is your roommate a yank? She sounds like a yank."_

"I'm fucking **CANADIAN!** "

" **All of you shut the fuck up right fucking now!** " yelled Maria at the top of her lungs.

" _ **Yes ma'am!"**_ answered a chorus from Josephine's laptop.

" _That one was definitely a yank…"_ said another of Josephine's guild members in a low voice.

"Yes. That one was a yank. And we just wiped…" muttered Josephine.

* * *

The next day at lunch, a sleepy looking Josephine brought a tray with three meals to the table she was sharing with her two classmates and roommates. Both had textbooks out and were studying up until they saw her coming and quickly cleared off the table for her to set down the tray.

Maria picked up one plate from the tray and stared at its contents. "What is this?"

"The daily special. It was highly recommended."

"What is it suppose to be?" asked McKenna.

"Couscous I think. A little overcooked though, but it shouldn't be too bad."

The American girl picked up a fork and started digging through the plate. It was all mush. There were vegetables and other things she wasn't sure of at the bottom as well, also cooked to mush because they started disintegrating at the touch of her fork.

"I thought the food at the base I lived on was bad… Go figure they spend all their money on holographic projectors for the pillars and tables in this cafeteria but have nothing left to hire anything better than prison cooks."

Josephine nodded in agreement, "So it would seem…" she said before scooping some up into her fork and taking a bite. Followed by her two companions. All three then spit their food back into the plates and started furiously wiping their mouths with the serviettes.

"Oh dear god!" cried Maria.

The Canadian girl turned green, "That's the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth!"

"It's salty, mushy, and god only knows what else is in here that's giving it this horrid flavor…"

"As a rule of thumb, I only give places one chance to make a good impression on me," started the brunette. "I can cook. If you two can as well, then I propose we take turns making lunches for us all."

"I'll second that motion," added the blonde.

The raven-haired girl looked away with a huff, "I never learned how to cook. So I can't really pitch in there."

"Then I suppose the duty falls to us then McKenna."

"I don't mind. But we don't really have anything to prepare in the dorm room. We'd have to go shopping. Would they let us out for that? Or do they have a store here in the Academy?"

"I'm kind of broke…"

Both heads turned to the American girl who wasn't making eye contact with either of them.

Josephine narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Seriously? Aren't you a Representative Contender? Doesn't your government give you a stipend for your living expenses?"

"I get a salary from the Air Force. But I don't get to touch it. It's all held in 'trust' for me until I graduate. They said that since the IS Academy provides basic necessities for all students, I didn't need anything else so there was no need to provide me with an expense account."

"If there was any justice in this world, your entire pay would be going towards making amends for your fuck-ups," remarked another girl with what they all identified as an Australian accent.

Josephine turned to the newcomer with a scandalised expression. "I beg your pardon. But hasn't anyone ever told you how rude it is to eavesdrop? Never mind how rude it is to stick your nose into a private conversation!"

"Oh shut it, Limey! I wasn't talking to you!" she said while turning a glare onto the American girl. "Do you know who I am you little cunt?"

Maria examined the girl for any familiarity, but come up with nothing. She had long wavy blonde hair down to her middle back, but interestingly, her hair was a gradient, half blonde, and then it turned pink at the bottom. She had light blue eyes and a fair skin complexion. Her school uniform had a yellow necktie, indicating she was a sophomore. The Uniform jacket also had short sleeves, indicating she was a Representative Candidate or Cadet. She was attractive. Very much so. But, she didn't know her.

She then shrugged her shoulders before slouching back in her bench seat. "You're a... very sexy… and very angry POME who's in desperate need of anger management classes, whom I have never met before in my life. But I'm sure we'll get along perfectly if you just go away and get fucked by a Kangaroo."

Josephine glared at the Australian girl but said nothing further while trying to piece together the source of the hostility.

She narrowed her blue eyes and glared into the American girl's crimson irises, "Let me help your memory then… The desert in Arizona. Do you remember what happened there?"

"I don't remember you being there. As I said, you're pretty good looking, even if you're a total bitch. I think I'd remember you."

The blonde girl slammed her fists down into their table, "That's because I wasn't there! My sister was! Because of you, she's paralyzed from the neck down! She'll never walk again, she'll never be able to do anything on her own! Her IS piloting days were over before they started! She should be here now instead of you!"

"I don't know. It might be an important day to you, but to me they all just blur together…" Maria put a hand on her chin and then snapped her fingers, "Oh yeah. The Australian Second Generation model. The one that got splattered all over the Grand Canyon. Yeah. I remember that. Sad day for her, but it was just a Tuesday for me. If she couldn't hack it, if she couldn't accept the risks, she shouldn't have been there to begin with."

" **HOW THE HELL CAN YOU BE SO COLD ABOUT THIS?! YOU CAUSED IT!"**

"I didn't cause shit. I just shot her. Gravity did the rest. How can it be my fault if her machine was defective junk? Go vent your anger on whoever built that piece of shit she was piloting."

Josephine slowly nodded her head. Now she understood.

"You don't belong in this academy! You're reckless and dangerous! You could have saved her if you cared enough to stop her fall! I memorized all the after action reports! It was obvious to everyone there her machine had completely lost power! So why didn't you save her? Why didn't you even try?! You just left her to die!"

"Didn't you say she was paralyzed, not dead?"

" **THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"**

McKenna and Josephine looked between the two and even they were surprised at how indifferent Maria seemed to be to the other girl's plight.

The Canadian girl settled her eyes on her raven-haired roommate. "Maria… I think you could show a little compassion for her poor sister. I don't know what the circumstances were. But at least have some basic human empathy eh?"

The American crossed her arms over her chest and huffed indifferently, "Would my empathy heal her injuries? Maybe I should pray for her? Hmm? Ask god to undo what happened to her? I'm sure he'll do it if I asked nicely… In fact, why don't I try that now?"

She tugged her collar with one hand and pulled out her necklace with her other hand, revealing a silver crucifix the size of her hand. She clasped it in both hands and closed her eyes. "Hey god? Maria here. This girl is really bothering me right now, so could you please do us all a solid and heal her sister? We would deeply appreciate it."

" **Fuck you!"**

"Well… I guess that didn't work. So what else would you like me to do? If it'll make you stop screaming in my face, I'll even consider doing it."

"I want you to die!"

Maria slowly nodded her head, "Alright. I suppose there's only one way to settle this then. Well, actually there's two, but I don't think the cafeteria has enough jello for the first. So meet me in the arena tomorrow after school. And bring a long wooden box."

"She's a sophomore! You can't seriously be challenging her to an IS duel?!" yelled McKenna.

"Yeah. It's silly, but what can I do? This being an all girls school, you'd think they'd stock up enough jello for a wrestling match. It's just common sense really."

"You're on! I'll make the required arrangements for a proper grudge match! I strongly recommend keeping your mouth shut, the more shit you talk, the more shitty words you'll have to eat!" she yelled before walking away.

Maria reached out to pick up her drink and had a little sip, "Two girls one cup… With her? Why not," she said in a low and amused voice.

Josephine glared at her incredulously.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Thank you for that mental image which I will be unable to scrub from consciousness for the better part of the remainder of the day… But honestly… I can't believe you, Maria. I really thought better of you until just now. How could you be so devoid of compassion? Even if you couldn't for whatever reason save her sister, you could have at least shown some pity for the poor girl! The proper way to handle that was to talk it out, explain your point of view, and of course, show some empathy!"

Maria shook her head, "Explanations and apologies don't sate people's anger. She needs to vent it. She wanted a fight. Well. I'm happy to oblige her. If she beats me, maybe she'll start getting over the anger. Then she can move on to hating me quietly."

McKenna put a hand to her chin as she considered what had just happened, "I agree with Maria. Not the way she handled it. She could have handled it much better. But I don't think she's to blame at all for what happened. IS technology isn't perfect. Anything can malfunction at any time and have bad results. She accepts that risk when she pilots her IS. Her sister also accepted the risks when she got into one. Being angry at Maria for a malfunction she didn't cause is wrong of her."

"I can accept that point. But if Maria really was in a position to save the girl, and chose not to, then she is at fault," she then turned her hard glare back on the raven-haired girl sipping her drink. "Why didn't you? I think you owe an explanation!"

"I don't think I do. I had a reason. But I don't have to explain it to anyone."

"I hope you lose this match… I _really_ hope you lose," she replied while glaring at the American with a hard look in her sapphire eyes. "It would just be a crime against the world if you were to defeat her."

"I'm sorry that your personal sense of justice and morality is offended. Happy endings only come in fairy tales. There's no such thing in real life. We're born, we suffer, and we die. That's all there is to it."

"What the hell happened to you to make you so callous?"

"Does it matter? Will a sad story make you think better of me? Either accept me or walk away from me. I really don't have the option of telling you my life story even if I wanted to. See you in class," she said while scooting out of her bench seat and then got up to walk away.

As she walked away. Her teeth clenched, and her fists balled up tightly enough for her nails to draw blood from her palms.

* * *

Josephine was frustrated as she sat down at the dinner table to start on her homework. The episode at lunch was certainly going make living with that girl difficult if not impossible.

She looked to her left and saw the Canadian girl sitting on the top bunk of the bed and tapping away at her phone. She really didn't have a care to give about the situation at all and she felt somewhat envious of her for that. Whomever McKenna was chatting with on the device put a smile on the brunette's face which made Josephine just a little more envious before she managed to fight away that evil green monster and return her attention to more important matters.

She decided that, for the time being, no matter what she really thought of her, she could be civil with the American girl. No matter what the future held, for the time being, she was living with her. That was the reality.

But curiously. The girl in question still hadn't returned to their dorm and she now started wondering where she could have gone or what she could be doing. Ultimately deciding that it was none of her business, she returned her full concentration to her studies.

It wasn't long after that the door of their room opened and a very excited Maria walked in with three pizza boxes and the accompanying mouth-watering aroma to go with it.

"I brought dinner!" she announced while kicking the door closed behind her. She then rushed over to the dining table and set down the pizza boxes. "I didn't know what you all would enjoy so I got one plain cheese, one with pepperoni, and one with mushrooms!"

"Whoa, where on this island did you get pizza from?! And with what money? I thought you were broke?" asked McKenna while jumping down from the top bunk to grab a slice of the pepperoni.

"I went into town and got it from there," she answered while helping herself to a slice of the mushroom pizza.

Josephine eyed the girl skeptically while taking a slice of the pepperoni pizza. "Students aren't allowed off the island except on weekends according to the handbook. So how did you get to the city? And I also remember you telling us you were broke. So how _did_ you pay for this?"

"I didn't pay for it. These were on the house because I speak Italian. The owner of the pizzeria was impressed with me being a proper 'Murican bitch who speaks three languages. As for how I got there, well, I just flew there."

"You used your personal IS to go into town and get pizza?" asked Josephine with a raised eyebrow.

"Well. I actually used my personal IS to fly around and clear my head. I just saw the pizza place from the air and decided to check it out. The owner was cool, oh yeah, and we're all invited to eat there this weekend. Am I awesome or what?"

"Mmm… Free pizza… Yummy!" declared McKenna while gobbling down her slice. "What languages do you speak?"

"English, Italian, and Spanish. Also a little French and German, I started learning the latter two before I left to come here, so my education is a bit incomplete," she answered before munching down on her mushroom slice.

"That's cool. I speak English, obviously. And French. Which I only learned because I had to in school. But if you want, I can teach you some."

Maria smiled brightly, "I'd love that! Thanks, Kenny! You don't mind if I call you Kenny, do you? McKenna is a bit of a mouth full."

The brunette shrugged, "It's fine by me."

"I also speak French as well. For the same reason. But on the plus side of that, I can read Dumas in the original and appreciate where the translations don't quite do the original its proper justice," added Josephine.

"That's really cool. I doubt I'd be considered fully literate in French," remarked McKenna with an amused voice.

Their conversation was interrupted by a heavy knock on their door before it swung open, and like a thunderstorm, Chifuyu Orimura rolled in and wrecked their atmosphere just as it was getting calm and relaxed.

" **Maria Cross!"** she yelled loudly as she walked into the room.

"Uh-oh…" muttered the American.

"Your personal unit is a not a toy to take on joy rides! I've entered an official warning into your record for this incident. Any further breaches of the regulations regarding the use of an I.S. will result in a strike applied to your record and very harsh consequences. Do you understand?! Even if you don't say 'yes ma'am'!"

"Yes ma'am!" she answered while standing at attention and saluting the woman like a cute little 4'8 soldier that Josephine had to struggle not to laugh at.

Chifuyu then took a slice of the plain cheese pizza on their table. "Thanks for the Pizza. Never make me repeat this again!"

"You're welcome ma'am! And yes ma'am! It won't happen again!"

"See that it doesn't," the teacher replied before taking a bite out of her slice and then walking back out of their room.

When she was gone the three girls sighed in unified relief before giggling at the moment.

"Well. This pizza is definitely worth it. I haven't had pizza since I was thirteen," remarked Maria as she sat down.

"You're fifteen now right? Why no pizza in two years?" asked McKenna.

"Well… It's complicated. But the short of it is that where I was, there weren't any pizza places."

"Where was that?"

"It doesn't matter. Lemmie just enjoy this," she said with a big bright smile as she had a deep smell of her next pizza slice and then bite down on it, savoring the flavor with what the two other girls found to be one of the most adorable expressions they'd ever seen on another human being.

Josephine then found herself at a new conclusion. Getting along with her didn't seem like it would be all that hard. When she wasn't being a cold-hearted evil little troll, she was actually rather pleasant and entertaining. Why she couldn't be this way all the time, was a mystery to her. One which she resolved to resolve.

* * *

Maria sat on the floor wearing her black pajama pants, another torn up old plain white t-shirt, and black socks with white treads, where she was watching the TV with wide eyes and a happy smile. She had a pillow in her arms which she was hugging while giggling excitedly at whatever she was watching.

McKenna and Josephine both turned around from their seats at the long wall mounted desk where they were both using their respective laptops to play games and observed the little American with raised eyebrows.

"Are you serious? You made me disable the parental controls so you could watch whatever you wanted and you just end up watching Japanese anime channels which weren't even blocked to begin with?!"

"Why don't you put it on the news or something worth watching? Like Knight of the Seven Kingdoms or something?" asked Josephine.

Maria turned a bright smiling face on the Canadian. "Oh come on! Screw the news! Screw that Game of Thrones prequel! Just look at this shit! Have you ever seen anything so cute?!"

"Of course I've seen anime before. But I don't get why it's such a big deal to you," asked McKenna.

"What are you even watching?" asked Josephine while looking up at the screen.

"I have no idea. I forgot what it was called."

"Then push the information button?"

Maria picked up the remote and pushed the requested button before giving Josephine a smug grin.

The blonde sighed in irritation, the information was all written in Japanese.

"Give me about a month of watching this shit and I can probably pick up enough of the language."

"I'm sure the Japanese will be thrilled that you learned their language from their lowest of lowbrow entertainment," she remarked while turning back to her game.

"You say that, but honestly, when we speak English, do we speak like highbrow intellectuals, or do we talk like the characters on TV do?"

"I suppose that all depends on which side of the pond you're from…"

"Or which side of the border…" added McKenna.

"Ha. America, Canada, and England. Three countries separated by our common language."

* * *

It was the next morning, and it was time to start getting ready for class. Josephine and McKenna were each getting out of bed but noticed that Maria was still fast asleep despite the alarm on her phone blaring beside her. Josephine knelt down beside her bunk and gently nudged her shoulder to wake her.

Wake she did. Maria's eyes shot open, she sat up with panic all over her face. Josephine herself got a fright from how afraid the American looked. Then to her curiosity, Maria threw off her covers and started... checking herself. Josephine had no idea what to make of it, and any attempts at getting her attention by either of the two other girls were completely and utterly ignored by the crimson eyed American.

It wasn't until Maria had seemingly examined her entire body that she finally started to calm down again.

"Maria? Are you alright? You're scaring us here."

The American turned a smiling face to her two worried roommates, seemingly back to her normal self as if nothing strange had happened. "Yup. I'm totally fine. Wanna all shower together? We can scrub each other's backs!"

"Now you're really scaring me even more…" muttered McKenna. "Does the bathroom door have a lock?"

"I do hope so. It seems we might need it," answered Josephine.

* * *

Chifuyu Orimura cleared her throat as she stepped up to the podium, with a young woman with short green hair and glasses standing beside her, she began to speak, "Class. Today I'd like to introduce my new Assistant teacher. This is-"

Maria quickly stood up in her seat with her red eyes wide in adoration for the young woman standing beside her teacher, "MAYA YAMADA!" she yelled with great excitement.

"Oh my, you've heard of me?" asked the bespectacled green-haired woman with a surprised tone of voice.

"Heard of you? You're my fucking hero! I rip off all your moves!"

" **CROSS!** Mind your language!" yelled Chifuyu. "Now settle down!"

"Why isn't anyone else excited? Don't any of you stupid shits know who that is?" asked Maria after looking around at all the strange looks she was getting from her classmates after her outburst.

 **"CROSS! Sit down before I break your legs!"** yelled Chifuyu.

"Yes ma'am…" she grumbled while sitting back down.

Josephine had a curious eyebrow raised at her roommate's outburst. She couldn't help but be amused by how the raven-haired girl had a big bright smile on her face as she watched the young woman take the podium.

She turned her eyes towards the new assistant teacher, the first thing she noticed was something which surprised her. For the first time in her life, she was seeing someone who, in real life, had bigger breasts than she did. She made a mental note to ask for tips on how she manages those massive mammaries while piloting an IS, or doing anything for that matter.

"So umm… Hello everyone. So umm, as your... _enthusiastic_ classmate has already said, I'm Maya Yamada, and I'll be Miss Orimura's assistant homeroom teacher this year. I'm very grateful to her for the opportunity to work here. I used to be her student as well and I hope to continue learning from her while helping all of you learn what you need to know to progress as IS pilots. I hope we'll all get along and make this year enjoyable."

"So uhh. What's qualifies you to be one of our teachers?" asked a bespectacled girl sitting in the front row.

"The fact that I hired her myself… Any more stupid questions?" asked Chifuyu while cracking her knuckles.

"Anyone that psychotic Flash bitch calls her hero is probably someone to be very wary of," muttered another girl with long dark brown hair in the second row two seats across from Maria's window seat.

"Flash?" asked the bespectacled girl in the front row.

"Fucking Lazy American Shithead. Insults that require explanations aren't very insulting you silly kike yiddiot."

"What did you just call me bitch?!" she demanded while standing up and slamming her fists down on her desk.

"Temper temper," said an uncomfortably calm Maria while wagging a finger at the brunette, "Don't start what you can't finish. You wouldn't be the first Jew I've sent wandering back to the promised land in tears and misery."

"Cross! Arad! I won't have this in my class! Shut your mouths before I shut them permanently!" yelled Chifuyu. "And Cross, your name is starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth from overuse. Mind yourself! You're from Alaska, so you know what it means when I say you're headed to the thin ice."

"Yes ma'am!" answered Maria while looking straight ahead, ignoring the angry look she was getting from the Israeli girl.

Josephine narrowed her eyes at the shameful display. Though, if she were to be fair, the poor thing had it coming to her for starting the whole exchange. Which begged the question, what made her so hostile towards Maria? People who hate that girl seemed to be coming out of the woodwork at this school.

"So Miss Yamada? Perhaps you might care to share your credentials with the class? Simply to silence any naysayers?" suggested the bespectacled girl in the front row.

"Uhh, sure. Why not? Let's see, Mayuzumi right?" she asked while consulting the map of student seating on the podium.

"Yes ma'am," answered the girl.

"She was a representative contender for Japan until two years ago. She was almost entirely undefeated!" exclaimed an enthusiastic Maria. "But skip the boring stuff and just tell me why you weren't the Representative Cadet?"

Maya smiled at the raven-haired girl. "I couldn't say. They just didn't pick me," she answered with a small shrug.

"Their loss," said Chifuyu with finality. "Now let's get on with class. If anyone has any questions about Miss Yamada's abilities, feel free to google her on your own time. Open your textbooks to chapter two and let's get on with it."

Chifuyu then glared daggers at Josephine. "The _**textbook**_! Not The Three Musketeers!"

Josephine looked up from her book and sighed at being caught so easily this time while putting aside the Dumas classic and opening the class textbook. It was going to be a long day, with nothing to look forward to at the end but a vicious IS battle with one Australian fighting for revenge and one American fighting for her own amusement…

Nothing at this Academy was what Josephine Williams thought it would be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

" **My roommates have issues..."**

The sun was beginning to set as Maria and her opponent came out onto the arena. All around them in the stands, students were trickling in to watch the battle which was about to take place.

The two were in their piloting suits as they found a good spot to stretch and limber up. IS piloting was a sport in the end, and muscle strain was a common ailment among the pilots which made warm ups like these mandatory before beginning an intense combat match.

"So what the hell is your name anyway?" asked Maria while the two started with shoulder stretches.

"Jennifer Hawkins," she spat venomously.

"Pretty name. I'll skywrite it after I pound you into the dirt."

"You probably don't know this, but I'm one of the top ten students in this Academy, so you should probably shut up now. The more trash you talk the more humiliating it'll be for you when I start whipping your ass."

"I might just let you… That actually sounds kinda hot!"

Jennifer looked up at the raven-haired girl and met her crimson eyes. "You really mean that don't you?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Maria looked the Australian over with a small grin on her lips. She was wearing the tight fitting piloting suit. White with black lines on the bottom of the top and the top of the leggings. Jennifer had a well toned athletic body, and she was taller than the American who was on eye level with the Australian's generous bust line.

After stretching out she took a moment to adjust her black and red piloting suit. Standing side by side with the maturely figured blonde put the seeming immaturity of Maria's body into focus. She was lithe, short, and as she eyed Jennifer's womanly assets, she couldn't help but envy her features. Features she knew she'd never achieve. But she quickly quashed that feeling, it was a useless emotion which wouldn't serve any purpose in the coming battle.

"That's one fuck of a long list. So, shall we get started?"

"With pleasure! I'm going to punch your teeth so far down your throat that you'll be brushing through your rectum!" the blonde girl growled out before turning to walk away.

* * *

McKenna and Josephine watched from the stands with a growing number of other students who heard that a first year had challenged a second year to a duel. IS battles always drew crowds, even practice matches. But this was a spectacular turn out, beyond what Josephine could have anticipated. The English girl still believed Maria had no right to win this battle and found her attention set on the Australian girl who was the first to summon her Infinite Stratos.

It was a red machine with some black detailing and gold accents. There was something artistic about the paint scheme that looked very aristocratic to her. The frame was mostly concentrated below her waist, with large engine pods strapped to her backside. She carried a very large physical shield and a single beam rifle that looked very bland with many of its internal components exposed without any kind of casing.

"McKenna? What can you tell me about that girl's IS?" asked Josephine.

"It's called the Kestrel, Australia's second generation mass production model, but her's is a custom model so I can't tell you its exact capabilities until I see them. It's market share is second in the world, so it's quite good. It's got high speed and decent maneuverability, but its biggest issue is balance. It's not easy to handle, especially in close quarters because it's so bottom heavy, so it's only used by experienced IS pilots. But those who do use them, swear by them because of how amazingly rugged they are."

Maria was the next to summon her IS. As she watched, Josephine had to admit, even though she was very partial to her own IS, Maria's was an impressive looking machine. The paint scheme was black and white, with red and gold accents. She had weapons stored in holsters on her hips. Mounted on her lower back was a large beam rifle, and two large articulating wings mounted to a thruster pack attached to her upper back.

Josephine looked up at the holographic screen projecting information about the two combatants and read the name out loud. "Meteor. What do you know about it McKenna?"

"Exactly nothing. I've never heard of it before this. I can tell you everything about anything related to any current IS model, including experimental types, and yes, including yours. But I've never heard of this Meteor thing."

"How can that be?" wondered Josephine.

"Simple. It's quite common for IS frames to be developed and tested in absolute secrecy. But now that she's at the Academy, everything about it has to be made public record. Without looking at its specs, all I can tell you is that she's built for speed and close quarters combat."

"But she's got a beam rifle on her lower back there?"

"Yes. But that's not her primary weapon. Her frame is top heavy, so it's weight is more evenly distributed, makes it agile and fast. Those wings look like additional engines. If I had to guess, I'd say that the Meteor is capable of supersonic flight."

Josephine widened her eyes at the brunette, "Isn't that impossible?"

"That's what they said about the German jets at the end of World War Two. Technology marches forward. My own IS was designed to compete with the American Fang Quake. But this Meteor is something else entirely. A whole other development track separate from their production models. I really don't know what to make of it, it's so unlike the other American frames. We'll just have to see what happens."

"I think this'll be a very interesting match… But you seem to really know your stuff Miss Brunette, I'm impressed, mind if I pick your brain a little during and after the match?" remarked a newcomer.

She turned to regard the person who spoke next to her. She had short blue hair and ruby red eyes. With her left hand she was using a japanese fan to keep herself cool, and in her right, she had a pen with which she was jotting down notes about the two IS units she was seeing. Her school uniform was the same type of customization the Australian girl was wearing. It consisted of a white shirt, but instead of a white overcoat, hers was a light greenish yellow, and she wore red leggings which mercifully kept her modesty in spite of her extra short skirt. Like Maria and Jennifer, she wore a necktie instead of a ribbon. A blue neck tie indicating she was a first year as well.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" asked Josephine.

"Oh. Tatenashi Sarashiki, nice to meet you!" she cheerfully exclaimed while setting down her pen and then extended her right hand out to the two girls who each shook hands with her in turn.

The blonde and brunette politely introduced themselves as well before turning that attention back to the match.

* * *

Maria and Jennifer stared each other down across the arena as another student walked out between them. The new girl was identified as a senior by the red ribbon around her neck. She raised both her hands and began to address the contestants and the still growing crowd.

"Attention everyone! This is an unranked practice match to settle a personal dispute between two IS pilots. Because this is an off the record match, what we call a grudge match; recording, broadcasting, or reporting on this battle is strictly forbidden! So if we see this fight on YouTube, or see mention of it on Twitter, someone's going to be in deep trouble! Now that being said. Let's get on with it. The challenging pilot today is Maria Cross, Representative Contender for the United States of America. The challenged pilot is Jennifer Hawkins, Representative Cadet for the Commonwealth of Australia,

"The rules of combat are the same as they would be in a normal regulation practice or ranked match. The winner will be declared once their opponent's shield energy has been fully depleted, and then the match will be over! But because this is a personal match, there are stipulated terms. In this case, the loser must do any one thing the winner asks of them. Ladies, do you both understand and agree to the rules and terms of combat?"

The raven-haired American gave a thumbs up with the black mechanical hand of the Meteor.

"Yes. I understand," said the blonde Australian girl with a firm nod of her head.

The older girl looked between the two. Blue eyes and red eyes were locked on each other and nothing but. The former with an angry scowl, and the latter with a playful smirk. "Then you may both begin once I give the signal. Not before!"

With that she moved back to a safe distance from the two and started to count down.

"Match begins in 3…" she announced while raising one arm towards the sky.

Maria drew her beam rifle from behind her back and held it loosely in her left hand.

"2…" the senior counted while raising her other arm to the sky.

The Australian twisted her head and cracked her neck as the anticipation swelled within her.

"1…." and then she quickly dropped both of her arms as she yelled at the top of her lungs for all to hear, " **BEGIN!"**

* * *

"Miss Tremblay! What can you tell us about the match so far?" asked Tatenashi who was now sitting beside the amber eyed brunette while shoving her pen in her face as if it were a microphone.

"Well Miss Sarashiki. They're off to a fairly standard start. Dancing around each other in a circle rondo formation. The Australian Cadet is armed with a custom British made Starlight mark two sniper rifle which she seems to have essentially stripped down and sawed off to turn into a high powered beam rifle. Meanwhile, the American Contender is packing some kind of prototype beam rifle which is functionally similar to the Starlight except that it operates on a higher energy frequency, producing a purple beam instead of a blue one. It accordingly packs a bigger punch."

"How much bigger of a punch?"

McKenna smirked at the Japanese girl, "The kind you'll need two shots of scotch and an aspirin to get over."

The bluenette had a big laugh. "Yes. It seems these two are both very adept pilots. They're executing advanced manual frame control and neither is wasting a shot. Both looking for the other to make a mistake before firing their first shot."

"That's exactly right Miss Sarashiki. It's a good thing the PIC also prevents dizziness. It would sure as hell be embarrassing if these two started puking all over the arena."

"What do we actually know about the two pilots? If anything?" asked Tatenashi.

"We know a bit about them both. Jennifer Hawkins in particular is pretty famous. They call her the Tasmanian Devil. She had a respectable 86% win rate last year which placed her ninth in the overall rankings. Since Maria Cross is a new comer, there's nothing I can really tell you about her except that she's got a flare for languages, she's a talented musician, and she recently discovered anime and has been binge watching it on the big screen TV since we got here."

"She'd probably get along with my sister. My little sister loves anime, a lot. Like, _**really**_ a lot!"

* * *

"Damn it! This bitch is good! I can't get a shot lined up!" complained the girl with the red IS while looking through her scope to find a firing solution. But the American's evasive pattern was just too randomized. There literally was no pattern to it as they encircled each other. At least she was thankful that the other girl had the same problem.

Maria wasn't going to give her an opening, so she had to make one. She brought her left foot forwards and used the thrusters mounted to the sides of her leg to change her course so she would circle around and cut off the Meteor.

Maria in turn adjusted her course so the two would narrowly miss at the chosen interception point. They passed each other by less than a meter. Angry scowl met playful smile before they flew away. Each then pointed their rifles and fired.

* * *

"And the crowd goes nuts!" screamed Tatenashi as the students started cheering now that the shooting started.

"That's right! The two broke each other's shooter flow and damn near smashed into each other! But now they have to think fast! The next time they get close like that, this could turn into a wrestling match! And one wrong move with each other in the open like this and they could start to lose precious shield energy! Oh this is so great! I love IS fights between two insanely reckless pilots!"

Josephine palmed her face at how excited the two next to her were getting about this, not to mention the other students who were even now still pouring into the arena to watch the duel. She felt like she was probably the only person in the school who actually cared what the two were fighting over.

* * *

Jennifer furiously clenched her teeth before changing direction again. This time on a collision course with the American. The engine pods at her lower back ignited to speed her towards the winged Meteor. Along the way she discarded the beam rifle and quickly materialized a large hand held ax. With her shield raised in front of her to block the shots from Maria's beam rifle she closed the distance and then rammed the American at full speed, using the shield to slam the girl out of her way as she passed through where she had been hovering and firing.

Maria moved her legs to stabilize herself while accelerating away from the Australian to give herself time to put her rifle back in its proper place behind her back and then drew out a pair of twin beam sabers from her shoulder armor, igniting the purple blades as she executed a high speed turn with her wings articulating to vector her thrust.

* * *

"Did she actually just do that?!" yelled Josephine.

"Holy hell! The Tasmanian Devil just shocked the arena audience by executing a Rapid Switch during her attack!" exclaimed an excited Tatenashi.

The English girl looked over at her roommate, "I tried to master that ability during my training, but I couldn't come close to anything resembling success."

Tatenashi looked over at the busty blonde. "To execute a Rapid Switch, the pilot has to have a perfectly flawless mental image of all the weapons in their arsenal and be able to call that mental image up in an instant like clicking on a file in your computer. Any flaws in that mental image during the switch and it'll fail. Nothing to be ashamed of, not even I can pull that off."

* * *

As the Kestrel and Meteor closed in on each other Maria started to spin clockwise, throwing away her two beam sabers and emerged from her spin and ignited the energy blade of what turned out to be an enormous buster sword. The hilt had a crossguard section which projected a triangular purple blade with a sharp point on the end. She held it firmly in her left hand while her wings articulated, suddenly she rapidly closed the distance and the two passed each other with a slice from the sword and ax, each connecting with each other and flew off in a wide arc.

Jennifer turned upwards while Maria went down and the two charged at each at full power. But this time, Maria used an Ignition Boost to rapidly close the distance. With her eyes widened Jennifer raised the shield in her left arm and twisted her body awkwardly to block the American's left handed sword strike. The two started spinning in a circle around each other with the sword and shield locked when all of a sudden the Australian was hit by the two beam sabers Maria had previously discarded.

" **WHAT THE HELL?!"** she screamed with rage as her shield energy was drained from the impacts.

"You're Australian, don't you know that boomerangs return?" asked the amused American while her wings angled to point behind her and ignited.

" **BEAM SABER BOOMERANGS?!"** she asked incredulously.

Jennifer put her own engines to their maximum power but she simply couldn't compete with the Meteor's output and found herself being pushed back until she slammed into the arena's deflection shield, which protected the spectators from any stray shots fired by the contestants. They were also now close enough to hear the loud cheering.

* * *

"Ohhhh! A hard check to the board! I don't care how good absolute defense is! That is gonna hurt in the morning!" declared McKenna and then she and Tatenashi excited high fived each other.

Josephine narrowed her eyes while making mental notes of everything she saw. "That was actually very impressive with the boomerang swords."

"Yeah no kidding!" declared Tatenashi. "She threw out the boomerangs and then used her Ignition Boost to intercept and hold her in place while they came back and slammed into her. It was a gamble though. Cross could just as easily have been hit by her own attack if she couldn't get into position in time after their spin. Her situational and spatial awareness had to be incredible to have pulled that off. That girl has guts!"

"Yes… But that's about all she has. She's going to need a lot more cheap tricks up her sleeve if she plans to win it that way," added McKenna.

Josephine turned her eyes to the holographic screen floating above the audience. It displayed some information about the fight, including the available sheild energy on each competing IS. Each IS had a set number of energy units for their sheilds. IS frames all had a standard six hundred units. Both were now down to three hundred units each though.

The flaw with Maria's combat style was how much she relied on the Ignition Boost that cannibalized her own shield energy to function.

"I guess this has finally turned into a wrestling match! I did say that could happen if they collided again!" remarked a laughing McKenna.

* * *

With her left hand holding the Australian down, Maria pulled back her right arm and then punched at the blonde and pink haired girl. Just before her fist could connect a metal spike shot out of her forearm and struck her opponent's shield, draining precious power from it.

"I won't lose like this!" yelled Jennifer while she wrestled to try and keep Maria's pile bunker away.

The two started rolling around on the deflection shield before the Australian managed to kick the raven-haired girl off her and took to the air again. With another Rapid Switch she replaced her ax with her beam rifle and started firing.

Maria was caught at a significant disadvantage due to the fact that she couldn't just swap weapons as quickly as her opponent. For the first time, she cursed her inability to swap weapons with the Meteor's quantum conversion system like other pilots could. She resolved to spend a lot more time practicing her ability to manually swap weapons. She needed to be able to do that much faster to compete on this level.

Rather than even try to put away her sword and go to her rifle, she started skating along the ground to evade fire before using her frame's superior speed to rapidly climb. Still evading fire, but taking several hits along the way as she rushed at the Kestrel.

With yet another Rapid Switch, Jennifer had her ax in hand as she flew forward to meet Maria head on. Silently amusing herself at the irony of charging at the Meteor like a meteor herself.

With her shield held awkwardly to cover the section she knew Maria would strike at in front of her, she failed to properly counter attack with her ax as the two passed and flew in opposite directions before vectoring back towards each other for another aerial joust. The two collided head on. Then backed away from each other and climbed in a semi circle before colliding again. Three times they repeated the action like mirror images of each other before their weapons became locked and the two spun around each other in a red and black blur as their frames meshed together from the perspective of the spectators until they came back down to the arena and separated from each other.

The two were hovering and circling each other. Then rapidly closed the distance between them and lashed out. Sword hitting shield, ax being dodged. It was vicious, brutal, and entirely inelegant.

* * *

"This is getting intense. The sun is setting and we're well on track to setting a new record for longest IS match ever fought!" declared the Canadian.

"Indeed Miss Tremblay. These two are so evenly matched that the only way they have to beat each other is with a thousand papercuts!"

"Papercut massacre for the win bitches!"

* * *

"I don't know about you babe, but I've had about enough of this shit!" yelled Maria while swinging her sword around high to force the Australian to dodge low, and then kicked her in the torso when she did.

Jennifer responded by using the pointed end of her shield to stab into the American girl, knocking her back "Let me show you how that's done bitch!" she screamed as lifted off the ground and with one foot pointed out, and an Ignition Boost of her own, kicked the raven-haired girl hard enough to send her almost all the way across the arena.

Maria vectored the Meteor's wings to keep from slamming into the wall and shook her head once she's stopped herself. "Ouch!"

* * *

"Ohhhh! Achievement unlocked! Red Comet kick! Char Aznable would be proud! Too bad he helped dump a whole colony on her country!" cheered Tatenashi.

The Canadian nodded, "I don't know who that is, but what I do know is that our American Contender must be seeing stars and stripes after that one!"

Josephine narrowed her eyes at the holographic display. Maria was down to one hundred and fifty energy units now. That blow was good enough to drain half of her available energy. She silently cheered for the Australian girl to capitalize on the momentum she just gained.

* * *

With her beam sword held high and wide in her left hand Maria skated across the area floor towards her enemy and swung down on the girl who had to again awkwardly move her shield to and twist her body to block the attack leaving her back exposed to the American who used her right arm to punch, the pile bunker from inside her forearm extended to pierce at her shield.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes at the warning being projected to her by the Kestrel telling her she was now dangerously low on shield power. Her answer to the situation would have been to retreat out of the close combat situation, but the only way to get ahead of the faster Meteor was to use her Ignition Boost, something for which she simply didn't have the power left to chance.

She tightened her grip on the hand control inside her IS unit's arm which in turn tightened her unit's grip on her ax before she spun herself away from the giant sword and smashed it into the Meteor's back.

Maria flashed a toothy grin at the Australian girl before skating away with the other girl hot on her trail. "You look so sexy when you're so pissed off!"

"Keep talking bitch!" she yelled as she started closing the distance.

Maria then unfolded her wings and ignited the engines to stay ahead of the Australian as she drew a secondary beam weapon from her left hip. But instead of activating it, she attached it to the bottom of the hilt she already had in her hands.

" **Ascalon! Release safeties! Maximum yield! OVERCLOCK!"**

Jennifer heard that, and she did not like the sound of it as the American turned and started skating away from her backwards. Her sword length doubled, and the brightness of its purple blade intensified before she started to move in a slalom with her legs swaying from left to right, causing her IS to move in an increasingly zig-zagged pattern.

The blonde narrowed her blue eyes and studied her moves but came up short. She had no idea what she was about to try and pull off.

Maria held the sword in both hands and raised it up over her head.

The next thing Jennifer knew, Maria had used the Ignition Boost and was in front of her, and the sword came crashing down over her head. Draining all of her remaining shield power. So intense was the strike of her blade that the damage had bled through and damaged her IS frame, forcing the mandatory unlock to engage and return her IS to its stand by form. Leaving her to fall onto the arena floor in pain and humiliation.

* * *

There was no cheering, no applauding in the stands. Only horrified faces who starred with their mouths agape at what had just transpired.

Josephine glanced up at the large holographic display and then back to the area, and then her head whipped back to the display with wide eyes. Maria had concluded the match with one single unit of energy left in her shield.

"The audacity of that crazy bitch…" muttered Tatenashi.

"If she just sneezes in there… her shield will be gone…" muttered McKenna in response.

The blonde English girl furiously narrowed her eyes, "Did Maria actually just… plan and execute her attack to intentionally trigger Jennifer's mandatory unlock?!"

McKenna nodded, "Yeah… It does actually look like that's exactly what she did… Nobody can prove that of course… But we all saw it. That was so fucked up..."

* * *

Maria's IS vanished back into its standby form, the silver crucifix around her neck, and then landed on the arena floor with her bare feet. She then looked down in disgust.

"Oh not again... can't they ever get the quantum conversion right so I can keep my shoes when I dismiss this thing? This is so gross!"

The Australian girl was curled up on the arena floor with cuts and scrapes on her arms and the exposed parts of her thighs. She looked up with disgust at the American girl. "That attack… was that what you did to my sister?"

"Huh? No. I shot her with my beam rifle. If I were close enough to spank her with the Ascalon, do you really think we'd be having this conversation?" she asked while walking out towards the other girl and extending a hand down to her.

"So you didn't try to save her because you weren't close?! Too much effort or something?!" she asked before spitting on the girl's bare feet.

Maria visibly trembled. Though going by the look on her face, the action did not anger her as intended. It seemed to have the complete opposite effect, leaving her even more disgusted with the raven-haired girl.

"So. Are you going get up? Or shall I come down to you?"

"Are you making fun of me?!"

"Hardly. You just look like you're not done trying to beat my ass yet. So if you want to continue our fight, I can help you up to your feet so you can fight me with some modicum of dignity. Or I could come down there and we can go at it like a couple rabid bitches… Personally, option two is the one I'd like to go with."

"You are so fucked up…"

"Yes. Yes I am. I really am," she said while still holding a hand out to the girl. "So which will it be?"

"I don't want your help!" she yelled after slapping the hand away, and then slowly pushed herself up. "I want you to die!"

Maria heaved a heavy sigh, "If you want me dead then you're just going to have to get strong enough to kill me."

Jennifer glared into the girl's crimson eyes, "If I can't beat you myself, then God will be the one to give my sister justice!"

Maria started laughing so hard it made her sides ache. "Oh that's amazing! You're one of those! I never would have pegged you for one of them! Hahaha! Oh that's amazing! That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long ass time!"

Jennifer stared up at her with indignant fury.

"Let me clue you into some fun facts. You see god won't give your sister justice because god himself is alone responsible for what happened to her. If everything that happens, happens according to his will, then your sister is suffering because he wants her to. He's a sadist! So yeah. Something bad happens, you blame another human being. When something good happens you thank god for it. How about instead of me you focus your attention on the man himself? He's the one who mercilessly crippled your sister. Not me."

"You're wrong! God is good! God is merciful! God didn't do that to my sister! You did! You chose not to help her!"

Maria slowly shook her head. "I didn't choose anything. Ever… As for the result of our little match. I believe I now have the right to ask any one thing of you. Isn't that right?"

Jennifer clenched her teeth and balled her fists before hissing out something that sounded like a yes.

"Well. There's nothing I really want from you. But since I seem to have lost yet another pair of decent sneakers to the Meteor's quirky quantum conversion matrix, you can buy me a new pair. They have to be comfy, clean, and match my suit, so black with a splash of red," she said indifferently before turning her back and walking away.

"Fuck you!"

"Yeah yeah…"

* * *

Josephine walked back with a large crowd of students towards the dormitories. Beside her was McKenna, and the new girl they met, Tatenashi Sarashiki. The two were talking animatedly about the fight, and about IS frame construction.

"So yeah. The advantage of a bottom heavy IS is that you have nothing in your way on the upper torso. But the problem is balancing it when you're in motion or flying. If you can master it, then it just kicks the living shit out of the top heavy american designs because of how agile it can be when you learn how to throw the weight around."

"Yes. But that's not what we saw today. Hence why I'm asking," answered Tatenashi to McKenna's explanation.

"There's nothing wrong with her IS configuration as I saw it…" said Josephine as she interjected into their conversation. "Now that I've had some time to consider what we witnessed, I've concluded that Jennifer lost because of one fatal mistake she made against Maria."

"What would that be?" asked the bluenette.

"Maria is left handed. So all the attacks came from the right. With her shield held in her own left hand, she just didn't have the training or instincts to block attacks from that angle. So her shield was always getting in the way of effective counter attacks. Her direct assaults were all perfect. But when Maria got her into very close quarters, the fact that she was a left handed fighter confused her."

Tatenashi put a hand to her chin and slowly nodded, "Yes. Now that you mention it, I saw that as well. I suppose I was too focused on other things to catch onto that little detail."

"What she should have done was alter her weapon configuration. But if what we saw was all she had, then she should have simply discarded her shield and used an evade and counter method instead of block and counter. With the evade and counter, she could have fought Maria on equal footing. Instead she fought the battle on Maria's terms."

"Which as the illustrious Sun Tzu tells us, is the one thing you should never do. Yes. Yes. That makes perfect sense… Hmm… So the fact that she relies on a physical shield for defense is what did her in."

"Exactly right… But I know someone who is equipped to defeat her rather soundly. Only question is, should she bother trying? Would it accomplish anything?"

Tatenashi shrugged, "Everyone needs to be humbled once in awhile. It makes us all better people and stronger pilots."

Josephine slowly nodded her head, "I think you might be right…"

* * *

McKenna and Josephine returned to their room after having a cafeteria dinner with Tatenashi and then took turns showering before sitting down to start on their homework, but once again, Maria was conspicuously absent and the two started to wonder where she was.

"She won't have enough time to get her homework done before lights out if she doesn't get back soon."

"Indeed…" muttered Josephine while looking around the room.

"Do you think she went into town again?"

"It's possible. But I don't think so. She's probably around. She must have been back here while we were having dinner."

"What makes you say that?"

"One of her guitars isn't here."

"Oh… Good catch. I feel a little bad for not being as attentive…"

Josephine shook her head. "It's not our responsibility to be mindful of her. I only noticed because I suppose I'm always hyper aware of my environment."

McKenna's phone buzzed and then she pulled it out of her pocket. "Oh crap!"

"What is it? Bad news?"

"I completely forgot I was suppose to Skype with my boyfriend! I got so caught up in that match that I completely forgot about him… I'm such a bad girlfriend!" she exclaimed while typing furiously into the phone.

"I'm sure he'll understand. You're busy with your school life. The fact that you care to keep in touch with him at all should be more than enough for him."

"You'd think. But he's a bit on the needy side. He says that because I'm a Representative IS pilot, I'll have the world's attention on me and the attention of any guy I want, even celebrities. I guess he's insecure."

"Yes. Based on what you just said, I would have to agree with that assessment."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Josephine shook her head. "No. I don't."

"Looking the way you do, I bet you get a lot of male attention."

"I didn't always look this way. I only started blooming recently. Most of which I spent training with my personal IS. So I didn't have time for boyfriends. There was also a distinct lack of any boys, or men, who were interested in more than my C cups… Then they became D cups… And they keep growing… It's so damn frustrating. It seems the more I try to fill my brain, the more my chest tries to compete for attention. It's so embarrassing having to ask for new piloting suits every so often to accommodate them."

"We should all have such problems… I think I'm as big as I'm going to get," muttered the Canadian while typing in her phone.

"I'd gladly trade bodies with you. I if I had your figure, I'd be perfectly content."

"C for contentment!" cheered McKenna. "Anyway. I think I'm going to go have a quick look around and see if I can find Maria. I remember Miss Orimura said there were soundproof rooms for playing music. So she could be using one."

"Don't waste your time. Maria doesn't give a damn if she's disturbing anyone. She'll play wherever she wants irrespective of what anyone tells her."

"This is true… And all the more reason to find her."

"If that's how you feel… But like I said, we're not responsible for her."

"No. But. She's our roommate. So we should look out for her if we can," she answered while standing up and shoving her phone back into her jacket pocket.

Josephine shook her head, "Damn it… You're so Canadian."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"That you're too nice for your own good… But as you wish. I'd come with you, but it's dark out there."

McKenna nodded, "I understand. I'm sure I'll find her soon enough. If she's not around the dorm building, I'll probably just expand my search a little and come straight back. It's a small island, but it's still big enough."

"Pragmatic and reasonable. Good luck."

* * *

McKenna walked out of the dorm building after confirming that Maria indeed wasn't using the dedicated soundproofed room. So she expanded her search, if she wasn't somewhere around the dorm buildings, then she would check the cafeteria and then if she still hadn't found her, she'd just go back to the dorm.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to read the message she got, except it wasn't a message. He was calling her this time. With a big bright smile she put the phone to her ear. "Hey there!"

" _What're you doing? You stopped messaging me..."_

McKenna put a hand over her mouth when she realized he was right. "Oh. I'm sorry… That was horrible of me! Sorry. I'm out looking for my roommate right now. She didn't come back after the match so I'm worried about her."

" _Which one? The bombshell or the loli?"_

Her face scrunched up in annoyance, "That's so mean. Their names are Josephine, and Maria. And Maria is not a loli… She's just small. And don't comment on Josephine's looks like that. She's sort of sensitive about it."

" _Yeah. The hotter the girl the more humble she has to act so nobody accidentally thinks she's full of herself. And being small is sort of the definition of a loli isn't it? So which one is missing?"_

"Maria. Didn't I tell you she was the one fighting today?"

" _I didn't even know there was a match going on because you didn't tell me anything. You just ignored me. You promised you wouldn't do that."_

"I know… I'm sorry. I met this girl named Tatenashi Sarashiki, and we started doing sports commentating together about the match for Josephine and we were having a lot of fun. I'm sorry."

" _I knew you'd forget about me when you were over there. You said you wouldn't, but it's already starting."_

"Don't say that. It's so not true! I promise!"

" _Yes it is. You didn't even invite me to celebrate with you when you got selected."_

"You know my brother doesn't exactly like you. So how could I have?"

" _That's not the point. We could have done something the next day for example. Or even after that. You barely made any time at all for me."_

"I couldn't help it…" she answered while sitting down on the side of the stone bridge near the dormitory. "The training they put me through was very intense. I just didn't have any free time at all. You know this. So why are you making me feel guilty again?"

* * *

 **Whitehorse, Yukon Territory**

 _The cork popped off the champagne bottle with a loud pop that gave the girl holding it a startle but she smiled proudly at herself before filling the glasses her family all held out to her. Her mother, father, and big brother had all come together to celebrate this achievement in her life. Finally, she was handed a glass for herself while her father took the bottle and poured himself another one._

" _Is this really alright for me?" she asked with bewilderment._

" _You've earned it!" he happily exclaimed as he raised up his glass. "A toast to Canada's very own Representative Contender!"_

The family all knocked their glasses together before taking sips of the bubbly drink. She found the traditional celebratory drink to be both bitter and sweet. A fascinating contradiction in flavors.

" _I can't tell you how proud of you we are McKenna. I hope you know that," her mother said while putting an arm around her shoulders._

" _Damn straight we are," added her big brother._

 _She beamed a happy smile at all the praise and affection being thrown upon her. "They said they could skip the contender part and just make me the Representative Cadet. But that didn't feel fair to everyone else. So I told them to at least wait until after my first year to promote me like that."_

" _That was very humble of you. Color me impressed," remarked her big brother._

" _They told me to figure out what kind of accessory I want my IS to take in its standby mode. But I'm not sure what it should be. It needs to be something I wouldn't ever lose. But I don't really have anything like that."_

" _No. You just have a whole lot of junk you carry around in your hand bag. But here's an idea," he said while slipping off his ring and then putting it on his sister's finger._

" _You can't be serious?! This is your Academy Graduation ring! I can't wear this!"_

" _Sure you can. You were proud of me when I got this. Now let it remind you how proud I am of you. When you get your own graduation ring, you can let me wear it for you."_

 _McKenna looked down at her big brother's army academy graduation ring and then looked up at him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "It's a deal Big Brother!"_

 _After the celebration, she decided to unwind a bit before bed time. She sat down at the desk in her bedroom and waited patiently while her old laptop booted itself up. It was old, but it still got the job done. Once money started coming in from being a Representative Contender she decided the first thing she would do was treat herself to a brand new computer._

 _Once the laptop booted up, she looked through her desktop icons to try and decide which game she felt like playing. But before she got too far down the list she noticed her instant messager had a few messages for her so she opened it up to read through them. All of them were to congratulate her on her achievement._

 _After sending replies of gratitude to all her friends she settled on a game to play and loaded it up to immerse herself in a world of warships._

 _The next day was the weekend, McKenna decided to dress up and spend some time outside. She put her cat in a little woolen coat and headed out to the park where she could spend some time playing with him on account of most other sports she enjoyed being unavailable to her in the winter. Hockey was doable, but expensive. Some people her age would be playing on a frozen pond but that was particularly dangerous because the ponds had not yet frozen solid enough._

 _The snowfall had been plentiful that year but thankfully the sidewalks had been cleared, else she would have been knee deep in the snow. Her phone rang when she got closer to the park and she smiled as she pulled it out of her pocket and brought up to her ear, already knowing who it was._

* * *

" _You had more time for your cat than you did for me."_

"Yes… I'm sorry. But you know how much I love my cat."

" _More than me."_

"That's so unfair! Don't compare yourself to my cat…" she then let a playful smirk cross her lips, "Or I'll have to start treating you like him."

" _If you do that. I'll start acting like one. Including killing the other cat for daring to compete with me for your attention."_

McKenna's smirk vanished instantly and she started nervously chewing in the nail of her index finger. "Don't say things like that… I can't tell if you really mean it or not."

" _Do I ever say anything I don't mean?"_

"No. That's why I'm worried now… You're scaring me," she answered with a small voice.

" _Then don't ignore me anymore."_

"I won't. But I do kind of need to go now. I still need to search for Maria. I've been sitting down by myself outside here and talking to you this whole time."

"Is the loli more important to you than I am?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying at all! Why would you put those words in my mouth!"

" _Then why do you want to stop talking to me to go search for her?"_

"Because I'm worried about her!"

" _Aren't you worried about me? Do you know what's going on in my life right now?"_

"No…"

" _I'll tell you then."_

* * *

Meanwhile, Josephine heard the door open and quickly close again. "Did you find her?" she asked loudly to be heard from the doorway.

"Find who?" asked Maria as she walked into the living area with a tray of food.

"McKenna went out to find you. Didn't you see her on your way in?"

"Nope. I went out to chill and play a little guitar. Then I went to the cafeteria to eat. Then I randomly looked out the window and realized it was dark outside. That's when I remembered that you're afraid of the dark. As they were about to close the cafeteria, I made them fill one last order for you and Kenny," she explained while setting down the tray in front of Josephine and then went to put her instrument away next to her other ones.

Josephine smiled down at the tray of Japanese food, and then turned an even brighter smile up at her roommate, "That was so very sweet of you Maria. Thank you."

Maria then went to pick up some of the food out of the tray, "You're welcome. I'll just stick these in the fridge for Kenny. From now on, I'll go get you food every night until you two can stock up our kitchen. Hope you don't mind the Gook food, but I figured they probably wouldn't screw up their own kind of food."

Josephine shook her head and huffed at the racial slur, but picked up the pair of chopsticks and the rice bowl. "Again. Thank you. It's nice to know that no matter how cruel you can be, you've still got a soft side to you."

By now, Maria was seated on the floor with the TV remote in hand, "You're my friend," she said softly and matter of factly before turning on the television to watch anime.

"I suppose I am..." she muttered before she started eating. "Might I trouble you to go find McKenna? She's looking for you after all."

Maria sighed and turned off the TV again. "Yeah. Sure. This cartoon kinda sucks anyway."

* * *

McKenna found it difficult to keep her eyes open in class the next morning as she struggled to listen to their new assistant teacher droning on in detail about the specifics of what is known about IS cores.

Finally her body gave up and her head slumped over with a little snore. Eliciting giggles from the girls next to her, and then full laughter when she was startled awake by a whack to the head with a book by Chifuyu Orimura.

"If you can't stay awake in class Tremblay, I'll send you home and free up your seat for someone who can. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Oui mademoiselle! Je suis vraiment désolée!"

"What was that?" asked Chifuyu while cracking her knuckles.

"I'm sorry. I said Yes ma'am. I am very sorry… Sorry. For a moment I thought I was back in French class..."

The room erupted into laughter at her plight.

"Was that boring for you too?"

"No ma'am! I just didn't sleep well last night. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Now explain how an IS Core responds to its pilot."

"Yes ma'am!" she answered while standing up, "The IS Core is able to interface with its pilot through the Hyper Sensor system, which grants the pilot enhanced senses such as three hundred and sixty degree visual perception and long distance viewing. Because the IS Core can alter our perception of reality so much, it has to make itself a part of us to do that. To do that it will read and analyse the pilot's brain patterns and get to know them. The goal of any pilot is to achieve a bond between themselves and their IS Core strong enough that the Core may be considered a literal part of themselves."

Chifuyu nodded her head, "Good explanation. Now say that again... en français."

McKena turned a horrified expression on the teacher. "Uhh, what?"

"You heard me!"

"Oui Mademoiselle Orimura! Le Core de l'Infinite Stratos est capable de comprendre et d'apprendre…"

As she droned out her explanation and struggled to find the correct words to fill in the blanks in her vocabulary, the class started laughing hysterically at her continued plight.

* * *

When class went into recess, McKenna instantly dropped her head onto her desk with a snore while Maria scooted back her chair, slouched back and put her feet up on her desk. Then she closed her eyes and muttered to herself, "Meteor, activate music player. Set artist to Steve Winwood and play."

Two holographic circles with their colors fluctuating along with her music appeared near her ears, there was text in the center of them which read; SOUND ONLY. She closed her eyes with her hands behind her head and started bouncing her foot along with the music filling her ears, all with a serene smile on her lips.

Josephine sat up straight and opened her book to where she left off before class started while pulling out her phone and went through her notifications.

"Hey McKenna! McKenna? Where is she?" asked the blue haired girl as she stormed into their classroom.

"She's asleep over there…" answered one of their classmates.

"McKenna! Wake up! No time for sleep!"

The Canadian girl slowly lifted up her head and glared at the bluenette with bloodshot eyes. "If you're here for anything more complicated than one plus one I'll be needing a Red Bull as my consultation fee…"

"Sure! You can have as many as you want if you just take a look at this and tell me what you think!" she replied while pulling the brunette off her desk and then started tapping at the computer built into it.

McKenna narrowed her eyes at what she was seeing on the desk's holographic display.

"You're trying to build a melee weapon with a machine gun... This isn't RWBY you know."

"I don't know what that is, but do you think this can be done?"

McKenna sat up and slapped her face with both hands, one after the other to wake herself up.

"Yes. It can be done. Question is should it be done? If you ask me no. But if you really want to… This design you came up with looks way too flimsy... You'll never realistically combine a functional sword with any kind of firearm and have it hold up under the strain of actual combat."

"So what do you suggest?"

"You need something big, and thick so that-"

Tatenashi smiled and started clapping enthusiastically, "Yes. big and thick she says! I like the way you think!"

"Get your mind out of the gutter…" she answered sternly while typing at the touch panel on the surface of her desk. "Do you think you can learn to use a jousting lance? My sleep deprived brain can't come up with specifics right now, but I do think that after I get some proper sleep I can come up with a design that'll do everything you want it to do."

"Really? I'd love that! So how'd you get so knowledgeable about stuff like this?"

"When most girls were playing with Barbie Dolls I was taking things apart to learn how and why they worked. By the time I was thirteen I could already disassemble a whole car and put it back together again. And I did. Just because I could. So yeah. This is nothing."

"Impressive! Let's get together after school to-"

"Uh-uh. I'm going to sleep after school. If you want my help, ask me tomorrow."

"Sure! You got it! That'll give me time to finish some other designs I want you to look at!"

McKenna slowly nodded before dropping her head back onto the desk.

* * *

"Kill me now…" muttered McKenna while leaning her head back in the cafeteria couch. Even after drinking two energy drinks she still couldn't stay awake.

Josephine smiled sympathetically at the brown haired girl. "You poor dear. What did you get up to last night? Were you seriously talking to that boyfriend of yours all night?"

The Canadian girl looked at her voluptuous roommate with sleepy amber eyes. "Yes… All night. Non-stop. We only hung up because I needed to get to class."

"That's cute. But also stupid. Doesn't he realize how massive a time difference we have between here and there?" asked Maria while sipping from a coke can.

"He knows… I kept telling him I needed to go to sleep, but he just kept the conversations going."

Josephine looked at the brunette with empathy, "I hope this isn't out of line for me to say McKenna… But your relationship doesn't sound healthy to me. You can't have anymore days like today. This school requires one hundred percent of your time and commitment."

Maria snorted derisively. "This coming from the one who reads everything but the textbook in class. But I can't blame you for that. I don't think we've covered a single thing that wasn't in my basic training after I got my IS. Certainly nothing that wasn't covered in the reference manual we had to study before coming to school. But the eye candy of our new Assistant Teacher… Now _**that**_ makes class worth following!"

Josephine put a finger to her lips while meeting Maria's red eyes, "Shhhh…." and then gestured towards the slumbering Canadian.

"D'awww. She looks so cute when she's sleeping like that. Like a little kitten…"

"Indeed she does. Let me just make her comfortable," she remarked while pulling the sleeping girl to rest her head in her lap.

"So you're like, everyone's big sister huh?"

Josephine couldn't help but smile, "I suppose if that's what I need to be…"

* * *

The trio returned to their classroom after the lunch break. Now that the energy drinks had a chance to kick in, McKenna was looking a bit more perky. But what ultimately caught and held their attention was a group of three girls with yellow ribbons around their necks who were standing inside their class room and walked up to them.

"You're Maria Cross right?" asked one of the girls on behalf of their group.

"That depends on what you want. I could either say yes, or slap a bitch."

The girls look at each other and had a laugh at the smaller American girl. "We just wanted to pay our respects and give you our thanks. Hawkins needed that epic beat down."

"You have no idea what a bitch she can be. She doesn't have any friends because she pisses everyone off. She doesn't even have a roommate anymore because nobody can stand to be around her. You cut her ego down to size! Way to go!"

"Not true. She has god as her friend."

The three laughed hysterically. "Yeah! That's what she keeps saying. That God is on her side or whatever. But he was clearly on your side!"

Josephine found herself appalled by what she was hearing while McKenna excused herself to return to her seat after deciding she wanted nothing to do with this conversation.

"No, god was on her side. But he got what was coming to him as well."

"Damn. That some impressive arrogance you've got there!"

"Excuse me. Why doesn't she have any friends?" asked Josephine.

"Because she's a bitch with a very short fuse and a massive ego. She's a good pilot. But she's a lousy everything else."

"I don't really give a fuck. Our class is starting soon," remarked Maria while stepping around the three girls and then moved toward her desk.

Josephine shook her head in irritation, "Can you cite me a specific example of something she's done to put people off to her?"

"Why do you even care? What's it to you?"

"Do you have an answer to the question?"

"She's acts like you… Self righteous," muttered one of the girls in response before pushing past Josephine.

"So you have no examples to give. The only impression I'm getting is that you don't like her because she doesn't conform to whatever standards you use to judge the worth of other people."

"Yeah. And you don't meet those standards either blondie."

Before they were gone, Josephine yelled out her final question. "Do you even know what she fought Maria about?!"

"Don't know. Don't care," answered one of them while they all walked away.

She turned back into her classroom and leveled a glare on Maria who was seated at her desk and pulling out her textbooks and other class supplies as if nothing had just happened.

* * *

After classes ended, the three returned to their dorm room together and the first thing McKenna did, much to Josephine's disappointment, was pull out her phone and start typing into it.

Maria glared at the Canadian with a irate expression, "Kenny. Give it a rest why don't you?"

"Huh? Naaa. If I sleep now I'll be awake all night and it'll just be the same thing again tomorrow. Better to just stay awake until my proper bedtime."

The English girl started tapping on McKenna's phone with her finger, "That's not what she meant and you know it."

"I'm just letting him know I'm back in my dorm."

"Why the fuck does that matter? We're seventeen fucking hours ahead of him! He should be asleep right now!" scolded Maria.

"Sixteen to Whitehorse. But yes he should be, and I'm telling him that too. He has such an unhealthy sleep pattern. His school work is going to suffer for it."

The American rolled her crimson eyes before snatching the phone out of her hands. "And what about yours? Hmm? Practice what you preach Kenny!"

"Maria!" protested the English girl, "That's very rude. You shouldn't just-"

"Quiet Josie! I'm still talking to Kenny!"

"Josie?! My name is **JOSEPHINE!** "

"Your name is too long. You're Josie from now on. Get used to it."

"You're going to get on my nerves over one bloody syllable?!"

"As for you Kenny..." she said while ignoring the English girl's rage.

She tried to take back her phone, but Maria's reflexes were simply too fast for her in her sleep deprived state of being, "Give me back the phone Maria!"

"Not until you promise us both that this isn't going to interfere in your life here."

"You're one to talk! I lost one night of sleep. You picked a fight, and used your IS to go to town and get pizza!"

"Pizza which you ate! I also went to town on that Aussie bitch too. But that's neither here nor there."

"Maria. Just give her back the phone… That's not going to solve anything."

"Pfft. Whatever. I'm just trying to look out for her," she said while handing back the phone which McKenna snatched back.

"Nobody asked you too…" muttered the brunette.

"You went out last night to try and find me. Maybe now you know how it feels to have other people be concerned about you?"

"No. That was me being worried about my roommate. This is you butting into my personal life!"

Josephine moved out of the doorway and pat Maria on the shoulder twice as she passed, "She has you there."

"Whatever… Not like I know or care much about the social graces…" she muttered while walking away.

"You've got that right!" yelled McKenna.

"I think this would be good a time to discuss boundaries…" remarked Josephine while waving everyone to come sit at the dinner table with her.

Maria shrugged her shoulders and instead went to lie down on her bottom bunk. "We all shit in the same pot and you wanna talk about boundaries?"

"See… _That_ would be an example. I don't much care for your crude humor."

"It wasn't a joke, it was a statement of fact. Birds fly, fish swim, the sky is blue, you're beautiful, Kenny is sexy, and I'm snarky."

McKenna groaned to herself as she climbed up into her bunk. "I think I will sleep early after all."

"I also don't care for that nickname. Not even my parents call me anything but Josephine."

"I think Josie is cute. So that's what I'm going to call you. You're Josie, she's Kenny. If you can think of something shorter than Maria, feel free to use it too. Now I wanna nap. But if you wanna argue, I suppose I can get in the mood for that too."

Josephine rubbed the side of her head which was aching from her growing irritation, but continued to speak in a calm and dignified tone of voice.

"Maria… Do you intentionally try to alienate anyone who could potentially be your friends? Or have I just done something to offend you?"

"Nope. You've done nothing to offend me. If I didn't like you, trust me, you'd know it."

"Very well… Then what is your problem exactly?"

"I don't have a problem. Well. Actually I have many problems. But you're not one of them."

"Let me be blunt then. Why are you unable to take no for an answer? My name is Josephine. That is what I want to be called. You insisting on calling me anything but that is impolite because you're being overly familiar with someone you don't know."

"I'm pretty sure I already pointed out that we shit in the same pot. If I didn't already consider us to be good friends, believe me Josie… I would build a Trump wall around that potty, and it'd be 'uuuge. I'm a clean freak. Like big time. I won't even use a public toilet, like, ever. If I didn't think the two of you were nice and clean, it would be SO SAD for you!"

Josephine sighed and started rubbing both sides of her head.

"What? Nothing to say to that?"

"No. I just have this mental image of a twenty foot wall topped with razor wire around the overly complicated Japanese toilet…"

In the bunk above them, McKenna started laughing hysterically. "With automated guns and landmines in front of it!"

The three girls then started laughing together.

* * *

The next morning Josephine stirred in her sleep. The sound of something metallic and scratchy filled her ears and caused her to groan and mutter incomprehensibly.

A moment later, McKenna's eyes fluttered open as she slowly sat up and turned her head around to find the source of the noise which disturbed her slumber.

Both she and Josephine turned their heads to the dinner table and saw Maria sitting there with her acoustic guitar where she was playing and singing loudly to wake them (and the occupants of the surrounding dorms).

" _ **Well I guess it would be nice! If I could touch your body. I know not everybody, has got a body like you! But I gotta think twice! Before I give my heart away! And I know all the games you play, because I play them too! BAAAAAABY!"**_

Both Josephine and McKenna simultaneously threw their pillows at Maria who started laughing at them just before their wake-up alarms went off.

* * *

After leaving the dorm building to start the day, Josephine's attention was pulled by what sounded like an altercation between some of the students.

"I don't like the sound of that. I'm going to go check it out."

Maria shrugged before taking a bite out of an apple. "Whatefer…" she muttered with her mouth full. "See you in class," she added after swallowing and carried on towards the class building.

McKenna sighed and started walking beside Josephine.

"You don't have to come with me you know. You can go with Maria."

"Would you want to be alone with her?"

"Point taken," she answered with a small shrug of her shoulders as she walked towards where all the shouting was coming from.

Josephine saw the same three girls who had visited their class the previous day. There were some others she didn't know, and in the middle of it all, was the blonde Australian girl Maria had defeated. They had her surrounded. Her head was down, face hidden by the shadow of her hair. The sparkles on her cheeks cast by the sunlight would have been beautiful if they were caused by anything other than the tears she was shedding.

"What do you wanna do?" asked McKenna.

"Just watch my back if you please. I'll handle the rest," she replied while walking up to the scene. She then reached out a hand and took a hold of the Australian girl's hand.

"Excuse us everyone. My friend here is going to be late for class. And so will all of you if you don't hurry up!" she exclaimed before pulling the other blonde girl along with her away from the mob which had surrounded her.

But she started protesting and tried to get her hand away from Josephine's. "I don't need to be rescued! I can handle this myself."

"I know you could. But you're dawdling here, and you're going to make us late for class. So handle it later. They're just some silly flightless birds, they aren't going anywhere," answered Josephine.

Jennifer raised up at eyebrow at the answer she got. "Yes. You're right. They're not going anywhere, so I can deal with them anytime."

"Good good," she said before bringing them to a stop next to McKenna. She then reached into her school bag and pulled out a tissue to offer to the girl. "It seems you somehow got some water splashed on your face. It wouldn't do for you to go to class looking so unkempt," she then switched to a more playful and cheery tone when she went on to say; "As England's Representative Contender, I can't abide a Commonwealth Representative being seen at anything but her best."

Jennifer slowly accepted the tissue while being unable to meet the English girl's eyes, "No… That would be terrible of me to make us all look bad like that, wouldn't it?"

"Mhmm. Indeed it would. I'm Jo-"

"I know who you are Miss Williams. And you too Miss Tremblay."

"Just call me Josephine. You're older than me, I should be addressing you with that level of formality Miss Hawkins."

"Same for me. Call me McKenna. Or Kenny if you like. Anything else, just please only do it behind my back," she said playfully.

"Jennifer. Or Jenny. Either is fine. But all bullshit aside. You do realize that bailing me out of that situation doesn't solve it. Those are my classmates. I have to deal with them all day, everyday."

"Yes. Well. It looked like you needed a friend just then. Which I would like to be for you, if you'll have me."

Josephine then extended a hand out to the shorter Australian.

Jennifer looked up and finally made eye contact with the busty blonde. "There's a reason they call me the 'Tasmanian Devil' and it's not because I'm small and cute. Because I'm neither of those things."

"It's because you're vicious and allergic to most deodorants. I know dear."

Jennifer took a hold of her hand and shook it politely. "The second thing is a rumor that got out of hand on social media. I do use deo. Just not during sports because it starts to itch. Which also happens to be the time you need it most. But what to do? You know?"

"Oh I know what you mean. I'm the same way. But thankfully most of my favorite sports are winter sports," remarked McKenna with a playful smile.

"Yeah… But still… Whatever. I'll figure it out. Gotta run to class now, my teacher is just as bad as Miss Orimura about punctuality."

"Damn… We need to run too!" added McKenna.

Josephine lifted up her left sleeve to check the time. "Bollocks!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three  
** " **My roommate is a masochist!"**

Chifuyu leveled a hard glare on the two girls who were standing before her near the classroom door. "So let me get this straight. The reason you two were late to my class is because you stopped to help someone who was being bullied by her classmates?"

"Yes ma'am," the two answered with worry in their voices.

"I want you both to write me separate detailed reports about it and have it to me by the end of the day, and you'd better not be making this up because you think I'll go easy on you. Because I won't."

"Yes ma'am!" the two answered with firm resolve.

"Get to your seats. Class has been delayed long enough. Miss Yamada. Please begin."

Maya widened her eyes, "Huh? Oh right!" she exclaimed while quickly stepping up to the podium. "Alright class, let's open our textbooks to chapter four and begin from there."

* * *

"The reason you were late?" asked the teacher with a very hard glare turned on the Australian girl.

Jennifer balled a fist tightly in an effort to keep the anger from her face. "Because several members of this and another class intercepted me on my way here to have a 'discussion' about why I lost a practice match to a first year."

"Yet they were on time and you weren't. How do you explain that?"

"Fear motivates people to run faster I suppose."

"But not you?"

"No ma'am."

The response came from a vicious slap to her face which got her classmates giggling excitedly.

Jennifer inhaled sharply and stood calmly, she then turned her face and pointed to her other cheek. The teacher obliged her with another slap.

"Is that enough? Or would you like a third?"

"If you feel you need a third to make your point, go ahead. Christ said to turn the other cheek. So I'll just keep doing that."

"It's no wonder you can't get along with your classmates. This holier than thou attitude you're displaying is really pissing me off. Orimura might not have been able to straighten you out, but I can assure you, I will. Get to your seat and let's get started!"

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"Williams!" yelled Chifuyu.

"Yes ma'am!"

"What are the development tracks of the three generations of the Infinite Stratos?"

"The first was the development of a viable frame for the utilization of the IS cores. The second focused on what was learned from the first and furthered development by creating the add on slots for the equalizer packages, allowing the frames to be re-equipped for different roles, which in turn carried over into the third generation which expands IS capabilities through the addition and integration of advanced image-interface technologies."

"What are image-interface technologies?"

"They are weapons which use mental image interfaces for their functionality. I'm not certain how specific I'm allowed to be with examples ma'am."

"Good enough. But you more than most should know they don't always have to be weapons. Now what are the three fundamental lessons from the Cuban Revolution according to Che Guevara?"

"Ma'am?"

"You're reading 'La Guerra de Guerrillas' aren't you?"

"How did you-"

"I ask the questions. You answer them!"

"Yes ma'am! First is that popular forces can win a war against against a well trained and well equipped army. Second is that it is not necessary to wait until all the favorable conditions for starting a revolution exist; the insurrection itself can create them. And third is that in underdeveloped America, the countryside is the basic area for armed fighting. Which can also be applied to any region of the world as well."

"And do you know the origin of the word 'Guerrilla'?"

"I do not ma'am. I don't think I'm up to that part yet, if it's covered at all."

"Cross! Do you know?"

Maria quickly stood up as her name was called. "Yes ma'am. The word _Guerrilla_ was introduced during the Peninsular War. It's a Spanish diminutive of _guerra_ , which just means war. The word has nothing to do with great apes as much of the English speaking world seems to think for some reason or other."

Chifuyu nodded, particularly catching her pronunciation, "Tú habla español?"

"Si Señorita. Hice mis estudios en español."

"I thought you were from Alaska? Where did you study in Spanish?"

"In Nevada ma'am. I had a Mexican professor tutoring me for a while. He taught me Spanish among other things as well, eventually all my lessons were in Spanish. I had other teachers as well. È anche come ho imparato l'italiano. Et le français, mais pas bien."

"I don't speak Italian unfortunately. It would have come in handy at one point..."

"Always nice to be able to use the languages I learned."

"Fucking show off…" mumbled the Israeli seated beside her while Maria seated herself again.

"Moving on…" said Chifuyu while glancing around the classroom, "Tremblay!"

"Yes ma'am!" yelled McKenna while standing up.

Chifuyu walked over towards her, "You said you like Military History. Explain the origins of Guerrilla fighters in the Peninsular War for the class."

"Yes ma'am, I'll do my best!" McKenna then cleared her throat while gathering her thoughts. "The Peninsular War is regarded as one of the first wars where the regular people rose up to defeat a superior army, in this case, Napoleon's Army. I'm not very well versed in all the specifics, but if memory serves they were essentially just criminals who banded together to resist French occupation and used criminal tactics to fight with. They fought a conventional war with unconventional tactics and they were successful because it was unheard of at the time and the French commanders had no idea what to do about it."

"Good enough for now. I want everyone in the class to write me a detailed essay on the topic of Guerrilla warfare. It's origins, and a summary of every conflict in which it has been employed with a particular emphasis on how and to what effect it was employed. Have in to me by this time next week."

Maria's eyes widened in horror, "Wait? What? Why? What does that have to do with the Infinite Stratos?!"

"Because I could whack Williams over the head for not paying attention in class, but she clearly isn't afraid of that. I hear the poor girl _**crying**_ for a broader education, and as a teacher I can't let that cry go unanswered. So I'll give her the best possible education I can to sate her thirst for knowledge, and all of you as well, because it's in my nature to be so giving."

"Way to go Josie…" remarked Maria in a sarcastic deadpan while clapping her hands. Soon after, the whole class was applauding her for their extra homework.

Josephine bowed her head lowly and shamefully at being the center of attention for the class.

* * *

At lunchtime in the cafeteria, Maria was taking a moment to check the tuning of her guitar while her two roommates eyed her curiously.

"Why'd you bring your guitar with you?" asked McKenna.

"I want to see about joining the music club after classes today. What about you two? You going to join any clubs?"

Josephine shook her head, "I don't think so. I haven't seen any listed which appeal to me."

McKenna put a hand on her chin as she considered the question, "There are a few I'm looking at. There are a bunch of sports related clubs so it's hard to choose."

"Excuse me, Williams-san?" asked a Japanese girl while walking up to their table. One they all recognized as one of their classmates. She had dark pink hair tied up in a small ponytail and blue eyes behind her frameless glasses.

"Yes? How can I help you?"

"The class had a meeting after you left to come to lunch. We all agree that we would like you to never do that again. This school is difficult enough withou-"

"Go fuck yourself," interjected Maria.

The girl widened her eyes at the raven-haired American, "Excuse me?"

"Clean your ears. Or just keep your eyes un-squinted like that for a moment longer while I say it again in sign language for you!" she said while raising up her left hand's middle finger to the girl while her right hand held the neck of her guitar.

"Maria! Stop it right now!"

"No Josie! The whole class 'met' after we left and decided something about you? I won't stand for that level of disrespect, and I certainly won't let you take it either. If they can't talk to your face, they shouldn't talk at all!"

"Then how about letting me have a chance to fight my own battle? Hmm?"

Maria gestured with an open palm to the Japanese girl. "Have at it."

"No. I think the problem is with you now, Cross-san. I don't care if you're a Representative Contender, you're not that special. I don't appreciate being spoken to that way, and I don't think I deserve that level of disrespect."

"If you really think that, then you must be _fucking retarded_. It's like you're saying that you want to eat the whole bag of chips, but you don't want the fat to go to your ass. Things just have consequences."

"Maria! Didn't you just say you'd let me handle this?"

"Then handle it already!"

Josephine took a very deep breath and then mustered a kind smile for the bespectacled girl. "I apologize for her overreaction, Miss… I'm sorry. I'm afraid I don't know your name."

"Mayuzumi Kaoruko," she introduced.

"Very well, Miss Mayuzumi Kaoruko. Kindly inform our classmates that I do not change myself to please others. While I don't agree with how Miss Cross chose to phrase what she said, her meaning is rather quite sound. Because of the extra work, you'll learn things about which you could have remained ignorant. Knowledge is something to be embraced, not rejected because it's too much work. If you don't want to learn, don't come to school. That is all I have to say on the matter."

The bespectacled girl nodded her head, "As you wish Williams-san." She then turned to Maria. "As for you Cross-san. I _demand_ an apology."

"And my ass demands a kiss. I wonder which of you will end up getting your wish?" she said dismissively before she started plucking her guitar strings.

"If that's how you'll be…"

"Maybe you can talk about it in a committee with the rest of the class… In the meantime, you'd better get started learning about our beloved Comandante, Che Guevara!"

She then started strumming chords and tapping the side of her guitar to mix in percussion with her beat while singing loudly and shamelessly in Spanish for the whole cafeteria to hear.

" _ **Aprendimos a quererte, desde la histórica altura, donde el Sol de tu bravura, le puso cerco a la muerte. Aquí, se queda la clara! La entrañable transparencia! De tu, querida presencia! Comandante! Che Guevara!"**_

The Japanese girl turned and walked away with a disgusted look on her face while Maria simply continued to play as the other students started to stare.

" _ **Vienes quemando la brisa, con soles de primavera, para plantar la bandera, con la luz de tu sonrisa**_. _**Aquí, se queda la clara! La entrañable transparencia! De tu, querida presencia! Comandante! Che Guevara!"**_

Josephine started rubbing the sides of her head. Any moment now one of the teachers was going to come and make an even bigger scene on top of the already big scene Maria made, and the still bigger scene she was making with her impromptu performance.

" _ **Tu amor revolucionario, te conduce a nueva empresa, donde esperan la firmeza, de tu brazo libertario.**_ _**Aquí, se queda la clara! La entrañable transparencia! De tu, querida presencia! Comandante! Che Guevara!"**_

"I think Maria's auditioning for the music club…" muttered McKenna.

"Or avoiding what I have to say to her about what she just did…" added Josephine.

" _ **Aquí, se queda la clara! La entrañable transparencia! De tu, querida presencia! Comandante! Che Gue- AHH!"**_

Josephine looked up and saw Chifuyu Orimura glaring menacingly down at Maria with a clipboard in her hand which she had just used to whack the little American across the head.

"This isn't your personal concert hall!"

"Yes ma'am..." replied Maria while rubbing her sore head.

* * *

Once they were all back in class, Chifuyu stepped up to the podium. "In two weeks, the first tournament of the year will take place. Every class should select a representative to fight in that tournament. This representative also attends student council meetings and committee meetings. Essentially it's your class leader. I will now take nominations."

One girl near the front row raised her hand, "I'd like to nominate Mayuzumi."

A few more hands went up to support that nomination.

"Any other nominations? If not, she'll be elected without a vote."

Maria put up her hand, "If we need someone capable of fighting in a tournament, shouldn't it be someone who can actually fight? There are three of us here with personal units and combat training. It should be one of us."

Chifuyu smirked at the short crimson eyed girl, "Are you volunteering yourself Cross?"

"No ma'am. I don't herd the sheep. I eat them," she turned a devious smirk on the girl sitting next to her and then made a loud chomping sound with her teeth.

"What a bitch…" muttered Daniella.

"Silence damn it! I don't need you two going at it again! So any other nominations?"

"Yes ma'am. I'd like to nominate Josephine Williams," said Maria once there was silence.

"I'll second that motion," added McKenna with her own hand up.

Josephine sighed and palmed her face. She somehow already knew how this would turn out.

"Any other nominations?" asked Chifuyu.

When no one spoke up, she nodded and crossed her arms, "Show of hands on Mayuzumi."

Everyone except Josephine, Maria, and McKenna's hands went up.

"Alright. I think that's that then."

"Not quite ma'am," said Maria with her hand raised.

"What is it now Cross?"

"I believe I have the right to challenge her in combat for the position?"

"Yes. You do."

Maria's lips curled in a vicious grin which had the bespectacled Japanese girl shrinking fearfully in her seat. "Then she may consider herself challenged."

"I don't think that's fair… How could I ever beat a Representative Contender?" asked Mayuzumi nervously.

Maria cracked her knuckles. "Remember what I told you at lunch? About consequences? This is just another example."

"Can I refuse to fight her?"

Chifuyu nodded, "Of course you can. But declining the challenge means you're unwilling to fight to keep your position. So you'll be forfeiting it to her."

"That's not fair either…" muttered the bespectacled pinkette.

"Life is unfair. So either suck it up and fight for yourself, or shut up and concede already," demanded Maria in a monotonous tone of voice while glaring at the girl in the front row.

"This is too unfair… The majority spoke. They chose me. Nobody voted for her. Everyone except those three picked me. Why should they be forced to have a leader whom they can't respect, and who doesn't respect them? She's not the best of us, she's the worst of us! She has no manners at all! None of us will accept her as our representative, she'll be a pariah!"

Josephine found herself snickering uncontrollably.

Chifuyu glared at the blonde girl. "Something you want to add to this discussion Williams?"

"It's sort of like in politics isn't it? Donald Trump. Theresa May. Rodrigo Duterte. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vladimir Putin. The best people very seldom get to high office. Nine out of every ten world leaders are in office simply because they are the strongest, and who are able to stomp out their rivals by any and all means. And the exceptions are just puppets for still more powerful people. So to call _**this**_ unfair is frankly, utterly, _**laughable!**_

"I'm sure many of Duterte's political rivals who were murdered in his 'war on drugs' thought it was unfair as well. But I don't recall any sanctions ever being proposed for the Philippines by the United Nations. Yet you're sitting there high and mightily talking about isolating the United States' Representative Contender to the Infinite Stratos Academy simply because you think she's rude."

"What's your point?" asked Mayuzumi.

"My point is that just because you have the majority, doesn't make you strong enough to hold power. Besides, it's not like the position has any actual power over anyone… But even if it did, Maria doesn't need your approval anymore than a lion needs the approval of sheep. And frankly, neither do I."

"Didn't Tywin Lannister die on the shitter in Game of Thrones? You shouldn't quote losers," remarked a smug sounding Daniella.

"That quote, was borrowed by George RR Martin, it's actually a quote from an american philosopher named Vernon Howard who stated, and I quote; 'A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep.' Meaning you desperately need a better education from a source other than the TV."

"Or you just need to get a life?" countered the Israeli.

Chifuyu found herself smirking, "Arad. Put a sock in it. Williams has a very good point. So what'll it be Mayuzumi?"

"I won't fight her. It's pointless. She can be the class rep…"

Maria put her hands behind her head and leaned back comfortably with a serene smile on her face. "And that, ladies, is how dictators get power. Because the 'good' people sit down, shut up, and accept it, like good little sheep being subservient to their shepherds. Under my leadership, this class is going to win so much that you're going to get sick of winning!"

Chifuyu leveled a harsh glare on the American, "Cross… Shut up."

"Yes ma'am."

"So that's settled then. The representative of class one is-"

"Excuse me ma'am," said Josephine with her hand raised.

"What is it now?!"

"Maria doesn't have the position yet. I'll be challenging her for it."

Maria's lips curled into a vicious toothy grin.

"Interesting… Very well. Cross?"

"Challenge accepted!" she declared with much enthusiasm.

Chifuyu nodded and tapped the computer console on her podium. "Arena two is available tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock. Now that this is all settled for now. We can finally get on with class!"

* * *

Josephine and McKenna walked back towards the dorm rooms while Maria had gone off to see about the school's music club. Along the way, Josephine spotted Jennifer walking alone with her head down. Her golden blonde hair seemed to glow in the light, but it was fascinating how the pinkish ends of her hair seemed matt against the sun while the rest of her hair shimmered.

"Good afternoon Jennifer. How was your day?" asked Josephine.

The Australian picked up her head slightly at the sound of the other blonde's voice. "Josephine… I uh-"

"What the hell happened to your face?!" exclaimed the busty british girl as she quickly stepped out in front of who she would like to call her newest friend, who presently had bruises on both of her cheeks.

"Nothing. It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?! You look like someone used your head as a punching bag!"

"It's really nothing. We Aussie girls are tough cookies. It'll take a lot more than this."

"Come with us. We'll talk about this in our room."

"Your room? Aren't you two in a room with-"

"She's not going to be there. She went to join the music club, so come on."

Josephine then took a hold of Jennifer's hand and made her follow them.

* * *

Once inside the building which she was told was where the school club activities took place she found her bespectacled classmate standing on a ladder and working on electrical wires in the roof. The Japanese girl glared menacingly down at the American who in turn smiled up at her as if there was nothing wrong between the two.

"Hello Kitty? I knew that shit was popular in this country, but damn… that's actually kinda hot for some strange reason."

Kaoruko looked down at herself and turned beet red as she realized Maria had just looked up her skirt and nearly slipped off the ladder as she started fuming and preparing an angry tirade. But by the time she regained her balance, the American was gone.

"Abazure!" she cursed at the empty spot where Maria once stood.

* * *

Maria wasn't sure if she was in the right place until she heard the unmistakable sound of a trumpet being played and then knew beyond all doubt that she was in the right place. With a big bright smile on her face she slowly slid open the door and peeked inside. She saw a few girls gathered around the one who was playing the trumpet, by the look of her she was one of the academy instructors. The other girls wore red and yellow ribbons. Seniors and Sophomores respectively.

"Excuse me? I presume this is the music club?"

"Yes it is. Do come in," the teacher said with a kind smile while waving her in.

Maria nodded as she stepped in and shut the door behind her.

"How can we help you today?" asked the teacher while getting up to greet the newcomer.

"I'm Maria Cross. I was hoping to check things out and see about joining you."

"You're certainly most welcome. I see you brought a guitar. Do you play? Because we do also give lessons as well."

"I play a little… I also have a double-bass, and an electric guitar of my own. I can also play the violin, cello, piano, and drums."

"We have all of those instruments here as well. But we don't currently have anyone who plays the drums. Are you any good at those?" she asked while gesturing to the full drum kit in the back of the room.

Maria looked over at where she was pointing and smirked. There was a full, professional drum set there with everything any drummer could ever wish for. She was almost frothing at the mouth for a chance to play them.

"I suppose that depends on who you ask ma'am. If you ask me, I'd say yes. If you ask the Commander of the base I lived on for a while, he'd doubtlessly give you a different opinion. So why don't I take it for a spin and let you be the judge?"

"By all means. I think there are some sticks on the snare."

Maria walked over, followed closely by the teacher and the other students. She set down her guitar case in a safe place before going up to the drum set where she eyed it all over with a critical eye before taking a seat and testing out the drums with an open handed playing style.

"You're left handed?"

Maria nodded. "Yes I am. So I play a little weirdly. It was hell on my teacher to try and teach me how to play open handed when he himself couldn't do it properly, but it was worth the effort. By the end of it, we were both able to play open handed," she answered before picking up the drumsticks and hit everything in sequence to check that it was all properly tuned. Once she was satisfied she spun the drum sticks in her fingers. "I've always wanted to do this but never had a drum kit with enough pieces to make it sound right…"

With both sticks she beat each drum in sequence before crashing the cymbals and then started to sing and keep the drum beat going.

" _ **I can feel it comin' in the air tonight, oh lord. Well, I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord. I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord!"**_

"Whoa! She can drum **AND** sing?! At the same time?!" exclaimed one of the students.

" _ **But I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord!"**_

" _ **I can feel it comin' in the air tonight, oh lord. But I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord. I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord, oh lord. But I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord."**_

"Please join our club! You have to! We need a drummer! And you're so good!"

Maria nodded, "What happened to your last drummer?"

"She graduated. Out of all the new members we've gotten, nobody can drum. Nobody's even interested in trying to learn."

"Well. I've never gotten to play with anything this elaborate before, so I'll need extra practice time to get acclimated. But. I don't mind drumming for you. As long as I can have some time to play other instruments as well. The biggest reason I wanted to join this club was because I hope to be able to improve by playing with other experienced musicians."

"How did you learn so many instruments?" wondered the teacher.

"I've been interested in music… for all my life. Heh," she snickered at herself for a moment. "I started singing when I was very small. One of my teachers gave me a singing part in a school christmas play and she encouraged my talents. I started with my pipes, then I started learning the piano. Violin was next, but I never owned one myself, one of my teachers had his own and he taught me with it. That was around the same time I got taken into my church choir. Then… life got a bit complicated after I got into the IS pre-training program in the US. I was stuck on a military base for the next two years after that, and all my education came from tutors. Thankfully some music was included. I learned the guitar, drums, and the double-bass during that time. I also learned three languages."

"Very impressive Miss Cross. We're lucky to have you in this school, and in our club."

"I'm lucky to be here. Win win. So is this everyone in the club right now?"

"Oh no. There are about a dozen freshmen like you. They should be here soon. So feel free to do whatever you like. Today I was thinking we could explore some Jazz music."

Maria lit up with a big bright smile at that. "Oh I love Jazz! Miles Davis, Al Di Meola, Wes Montgomery, John Coltrane… I could go on and on. Jazz is what I play with my double bass. Never got to drum any Jazz though, my teacher was into rock and metal, so that's what I learned on it. So already something new for me with something I love!"

"Ahh good! Lovely! This is what I love about the academy. Such diverse musical tastes!"

Moments later the door slid open and in walked a group of students. Some of whom she recognized as her classmates and waved at them in greeting.

"Oh no… What is _she_ doing here?!"

"Missus Takahashi… You can't be letting _her_ join the club!"

The teacher put up her hand and tried to calm the uproar taking place by the entrance while Maria shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

"No ma'am! If she stays, I'm leaving!"

"Same for me!"

"And me!"

"Yeah!"

"Here here!"

A short while later. Maria wandered the school grounds with her book bag held in her right hand, and her guitar case held in her left. She was also soaked in water from head to toe. With no particular destination in mind she simply wandered aimlessly with a vacant look in her eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in their dorm room, Josephine managed to secure two bags of ice from their next door neighbours to put on Jennifer's bruises, which she held to her cheeks while she explained what had happened.

"So your _**teacher**_ was the one who hit you like this?!"

"I deserved it. I really mishandled the situation I was in. I mishandled everything… I always mishandle things. It's just the kind of screw up that I am."

McKenna pumped her fist tightly to slowly bleed off her adrenaline surge. "I agree that you mishandled it. But damn… That's so messed up! Yeah. I get that they have some light corporal punishment here. But even Miss Orimura doesn't hit anyone any harder than it takes to get their attention. And no. You didn't deserve this. If anything, those bitches that were screwing with you were the ones who needed a beat down!"

Josephine shook her head, "Where the mind ends, violence begins. Meaning that the dumber you are, the quicker you resort to violence. So no McKenna. Violence should be the absolute last resort unless it's used in self defense."

"Says the one who challenged Maria for Class Rep..."

"You challenged her?!" exclaimed Jennifer.

"Yes I did. Sadly, there's just no other way to get through to her. She needs to be humbled. She uses violence as a first resort because she's physically strong. She has her Personal IS, and she knows she's a good pilot. Because of that, she's arrogant."

"You'll get no argument from me on that. But I don't think this is a good idea…"

"Neither do I. But. I can't stop you."

Josephine sighed and re-examined the bruises on the Australian's face, "Coming back to the issue at hand… Yes you did mishandle your situation. With Maria you went to the extreme of total aggression. With your teacher, I think it's fair to say you went to the extreme of total pacifism. Things need to be taken in moderation. Extremes of anything are bad."

Jennifer slowly nodded, "Yes… Well… When I couldn't avenge my sister, I remembered that wrath is a sin, and I understand why now. I felt like I had to make up for it by more strictly adhering to the tenets of my faith. But even that isn't giving me any comfort… It just made things worse…"

"You need to be who you are. You shouldn't force yourself to be a certain way. That won't solve anything for you. You can be religious. But religion doesn't have all the answers. Turning the other cheek doesn't solve problems. You have a right, and an obligation, to protect yourself. If not for your own sake, then for your sister's. Don't you think?"

"Yes. But. I've already turned all my classmates against me. I'm alone now. So what difference will it make?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that last part. Just tell me how you managed to get your whole class against you. The school year only just started."

"This all started last year. After the incident with my sister. I sort of flipped out. It's my own fault. I misbehaved and lost all my friends. Now I just don't know what to do anymore. I thought that by beating Maria I could avenge my sister and get my pride back."

"But neither of those things happened. Nor will they happen unless you change your approach. Honestly, it all just sounds like you need a clean slate and a fresh start. So. I'll be the one to give that to you."

"Why are you being so nice to me? When I first met you, I was really very rude to you…"

"Yes you were. But you were understandably angry, so I don't hold that against you."

Jennifer bowed her head lowly with the ice bags still held to her cheeks. "You're a good person Josephine. Thank you…"

"Thank you as well. Now. For your problem. Don't worry about Maria. I'll get some answers out of her for you after I beat her tomorrow. Beyond that. Your troubles in class. I'll support you with that as well. As long as you do things the right way, and keep your head up. You'll get through it. And I'll be here to support you. Even if you make some mistakes, I'll still be here."

"Thank you…"

"You're most welcome. Now. May I trouble you for some tips on fighting against Maria? It would be rather embarrassing if I lost after all this…"

"Hah! Yes. I'll be happy to tell you everything I can! But I just have to ask if you really appreciate what you're getting yourself into here. I've fought a lot of IS battles, and I've never faced anyone like her before. I've never heard of anyone like her before. I've gone over that fight a hundred times in my mind, and rewatched my combat footage six times now. The brutality of her attacks, her reaction speeds, her situational and spatial awareness... It was inhuman."

Their eyes met, and Josephine's sapphire eyes seemed to harden with her statement. There was clearly not a shred of doubt in the English girl about this endeavor.

"I have surprises of my own to bring to the table. Nobody is invincible."

* * *

 **Salisbury Plain, England  
Six months ago**

" _Securing the cooperation of the Royal School of Artillery was difficult. They were very skeptical about this test, and as I understand it, so are you Miss Williams." said a voice over the communications link._

Josephine gulped nervously, "That's putting it rather mildly. I'm only about to be pummeled by a few hundred artillery pieces."

" _The upgrades we made will allow your shield bits to focus the power of your absolute defense. The end result will be better protection with a much lower shield power consumption rate. You've already mastered the use of them but we need more real world data to apply what we've learned to the Blue Tears project."_

" _I still find this particular test to be rather dubious…"_

" _Don't worry Miss Williams. If we had any doubts about if this would work, you wouldn't be here now. Have faith in your equipment and concentrate. The test will begin as soon as they're ready to commence their exercises."_

" _May I just make one request?"_

" _What would that be?"_

" _We're not far from Stonehenge. Before we leave, could we take some time to visit it?"_

" _I'll arrange it after the test. But we also had planned a surprise for you when we get back to London. We got you a ticket to see King Lear at the Globe Theatre."_

 _Josephine squealed with tremendous joy, "Oh my goodness! That's excellent! Thank you so very much!"_

" _Never seen a teenage girl get excited about Shakespeare the way my daughter gets excited about pop musicians. Stay focused and be ready to protect yourself whenever the bombardment starts. It wouldn't do to have your shield energy depleted in the first round."_

 _The next moment, she heard the thunder of the artillery cannons being fired, and the distinctive whistling noise of the shells coming towards her. Her eyes narrowed as the large shield bits on her IS unit's back moved forward and out a short distance while she began to hover above the ground to skate around and intercept the shells with her shields._

* * *

The next morning. Josephine sat awkwardly in her classroom seat. The tension in the room was so thick that one could hardly see through it.

Maria was standing at the front of the room at attention like a cute little soldier. It would have been adorable had the scene not been so nerve wracking. Chifuyu Orimura was staring her down with her arms crossed and a furious scowl on her face.

Mayuzumi, the bespectacled, blue eyed pinkette was standing beside her with a confident smirk on her face.

"So let me get this straight Cross. You had absolutely nothing to do with the sprinklers going off in the club building. You stand by that statement?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"You understand how suspicious this all looks, correct?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Chifuyu turned her head slowly to the other girl. "Mayuzumi. The Maintenance Club looked into what set off the sprinklers. You say Cross was responsible. Do you have any solid evidence with which to back up this accusation?"

"Other than the system being manually set off from near the music room around the time Miss Cross was asked to leave. No ma'am. I'm sure a review of the security footage will prove she was the one who set it off."

"The footage would have been reviewed. But unfortunately, this happened while someone from the Maintenance Club had the security system off due to a malfunction… Without checking to see if the backup system took over. So because of your club's gross incompetence, you're accusing Miss Cross with nothing but circumstantial evidence. Do you understand how all these coincidences can add up to make either of you look guilty?"

"Yes ma'am!" they both answered.

"Mayuzumi. Are you familiar with Occam's Razor?"

"No ma'am."

"Cross. Are you?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Explain it!"

"Occam's Razor is a problem solving principle which suggests that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected."

"Correct. So Mayuzumi. You say that Miss Cross intentionally triggered the sprinkler system after being asked to leave the music club out of spite. However, at the same time, someone from the Maintenance Club was servicing the security system in the club building, and failed to ensure the backup system was engaged to take over while the work was being done. May I ask who that someone was?"

"It was me. Ma'am. But I _**did**_ check if the-"

"Shut up! I'm not finished!" she yelled and waited for it to sink in before she continued.

"So. The two of you both had motive and opportunity. Cross was pissed at being denied membership in the music club and you were pissed off at her challenging your position as class representative. Not to mention whatever happened at lunch yesterday that pissed you off as well. Based on the circumstantial evidence alone, it looks like you're trying to set her up. If we choose the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions, we again go back to you because to assume Miss Cross is guilty is also to assume she has the technical knowledge of how to trigger the sprinkler system without actually starting a fire,

"But as a member of the Maintenance Club, and someone with a background in mechanical and electrical engineering, we know you have that knowledge, and that they thought you were competent enough to do that section on your own. Cross went to the club building to join the music club. But at the same time, you went to the club building in order to repair a surveillance camera system. That means, you had on your person, all of the tools necessary to perform that work. Which also means you had all of the tools which would be required to sabotage the sprinkler system if you wanted to do it. To assume that Cross is the guilty party is to assume she knew the security system was completely offline, and that she accomplished this feat with her bare hands and a guitar… So what do you have to say to this?"

"I didn't do it ma'am! I would never do that! I don't need to set her up! She's guilty! When she walked passed me on the way to the club she even looked up my skirt and commented on my panties! She's a pervert, a liar, and-"

" **SHUT UP!"** she yelled to silence the girl, "We can't assume she's guilty just because she's obnoxious and arrogant. At this point it doesn't matter even if she is actually guilty. If you can't prove it, she's innocent. You on the other hand, violated security protocols. Now you tried to say the backup was engaged, but since it wasn't, the responsibility for that lies with the maintenance club. I don't expect the Head of Security will be very forgiving for this blunder. I doubt they'll let you near any of their equipment ever again after this. So both you and your supervising instructor are now in very deep shit."

"It was Cross… It had to be! She knew. Somehow she knew the security system was off and that she could get away with this! No… She sabotaged the backup system as well! It's impossible for it to fail on its own! You know that! There are-"

" _ **QUIET!**_ What did you just learn about Occam's Razor? You're piling on more assumptions about her alleged crime. The more assumptions you use instead of actual evidence to base your case upon, the more it falls apart. So now I want you to write an essay on the applications of Occam's Razor and have it in to me by tomorrow. Your other punishment will be decided by the head of security. Now both of you take your seats so we can start class!"

* * *

After class broke for lunch and the students started leaving. Chifuyu asked Maria to stay behind.

"Cross…"

"Yes ma'am!" she answered while coming to attention with a click of her heels.

"About this morning… You think I'm an idiot, don't you?"

"No ma'am!"

"Then you know that I know you're guilty."

"Ma'am?"

"You don't have to confess. You're getting away with it this time because I can't actually prove your guilt, and Mayuzumi _**is**_ an idiot. But be warned that I have my eye on you. Any more coincidences with you involved and I will make you very sorry. From now on I expect you to act right, and fly straight. You've got enough problems with your classmates turning against you and your two, what I'll loosely call, friends. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Dismissed."

"Yes ma'am!"

"And I told you before to stop being so damn rigid! This isn't the army!"

"Yes ma'am! Sorry ma'am! Difficult habit to break ma'am!"

"You remind me so much of my time in Germany… That's also pissing me off," she muttered while walking away.

"Es tut mir schrecklich leid."

Chifuyu shook her head as she crossed the threshold out of the room, "You're not making it better!"

* * *

Josephine performed her stretches in the arena's launch bay while Maria hovered outside on the other side of the arena. Standing near her were McKenna and Jennifer who watched her in nervous anticipation of the coming match.

"Are you sure about this Josie? I mean. Maria is reckless and dangerous. You could get hurt, and it would seriously suck."

"Now you're calling me that too?" asked a disappointed Josephine.

"Sorry… It really is catchy though, and it kinda suits you."

"I have to agree with Kenny. Not about the name thing, I mean about this fight. This is a bad idea. Remember what she did to me, and I have way more experience than all of you combined," added Jennifer.

The English girl shook her head, "If you're trying to talk me out of this, you're using the wrong arguments. Those are all the exact reasons for why I _**should**_ do this."

"I don't get it… Why do you feel so strongly about this?" asked McKenna.

"It's simple. Maria thinks she's invincible. She thinks she can say whatever she wants to whomever she wants, whenever she wants. She need to be put in her place. She needs to learn that might does not make right. Or else she's going to end up where Jennifer is. Alone, and with no friends."

The Australian bit her lip and balled her fist, but kept her mouth shut.

McKenna rolled her eyes, "Eh? Maria doesn't even think there's a problem between you and her! From her point of view, this is all legitly you just wanting to be class rep. Either she doesn't know there's more to it, or just doesn't care."

"Still more reason to go through with this."

Jennifer sighed, "I know you can't be talked out of this, and it's a little late to back out now. But still… Just be careful out there. You're both using close combat frames. She's brutal and unrestrained in close quarters. Her speed is phenomenal, and her weapons are powerful. And there's also the fact that her 3rd Generation weapon system hasn't yet been revealed. It isn't in the data about her IS. Which worries me."

McKenna raised a curious eyebrow. "Why isn't it in the data? I thought everything about her IS had to be made public record?"

The Australian shook her head, "It isn't in the data because she's never used it. Either because she just never needed to, wanted to, or…"

"Or what?" wondered Josephine.

"Or her third generation system isn't a weapon at all, but something else entirely."

"What do you mean?"

Jennifer held up her right wrist and used her bracelet to project a holographic screen with the available data on the Meteor. "It's just a theory. But nothing about Image-interface technology says it has to specifically be a weapon."

"Yes. Mine isn't technically a weapon."

"Miss Orimura also said that in class. Think maybe she knows what Maria's might be?" asked McKenna.

"Not impossible. Miss Orimura always knows everything. But her knowing doesn't help us. We're the ones who need to know. But since we don't, it means the Americans are keeping things hidden. Possibly even from Maria herself. Which is even more reason to worry."

"Getting worried about it now won't help me win this fight. I need a clear head. If something comes up, I'll just make it up as I go along."

"You did study the fight I had with her right? Humiliating as that was, I hope it was at least useful for you."

"It was. But as I told you before, the only reason you lost was because you couldn't defend against a left handed fighter," she said while standing up and giving both girls a firm nod.

McKenna looked the English girl in the eyes, "Be careful Josephine. And remember that we still have to live with Maria after this."

"I know that. I won't get carried away out there. That's not my style."

"Please win this..." added Jennifer.

"I will. I'll win this for my classmates, for you, and for your sister as well. I will not fail," she then smirked playfully at her two companions. "If I lost to an American it would make King and Country look rather pathetic wouldn't it?"

"Yes. Yes it would," the two answered simultaneously.

Josephine held up her left arm and then her full sized wrist watch strap started to glow with a green light that spread to fully envelop her. Less than a second later she was standing in her Infinite Stratos. With a few steps she locked her feet onto the catapult and prepared to launch.

"We'll be cheering you on from the control room! Good hunting Josephine!" exclaimed the Australian.

"Thank you! Let's do this!"

With that, the catapult shot her out into the arena where she flew out to hover a few meters from the Meteor which hovered with its wings spread menacingly, giving her a demonic visage with the fiery exhaust coming out of her powerful engines.

The arena wasn't full, but all their classmates and a few others who were interested showed up. She supposed this wasn't as interesting as Maria challenging a second year.

She eyed the Meteor up carefully to take in as many details as she could to refresh her memory about the weapons she saw used in her fight with Jennifer. The twin beam saber boomerangs in her shoulders, the Ascalon beam buster sword and beam dagger holstered in her hips. The beam rifle attached to her lower back, and finally, the twin shield piercing pile bunkers inside her heavy forearm panels. She knew this wouldn't be an easy fight. Maria was just as well armed as she herself was.

Meanwhile, Maria examined Josephine's IS frame while her computer system brought up the available data on it for her perusal. An image of the frame with some data on the weapons and defenses. She found it to be very impressive. It had a very classically elegant appearance to it, like a modern interpretation of an Arthurian Knight.

There was also the cute detail of how it was mostly painted in British racing green, with pearly whites, and golden accents. Her IS complimented the British racing green of her skin tight suit which was accentuating all of her bodily curves in all the right ways, which Maria struggled not to pay too much attention to. It was simply far too distracting.

The most dominating feature of this unit was the enormous sword attached to her right arm. The blade folded back when it wasn't in use, and the mechanism functioned as a beam cannon when the sword wasn't deployed, it also had a small shield attached to it as well. Then, she had two more swords inside the floating shield bits behind her back. Then two short swords attached to her hips. Mounted on her lower legs were two more bladed weapons which Maria couldn't figure out the use of, they were very short and stubby looking weapons with handles instead of hilts.

All in all, Josephine was packing seven blades and a beam cannon. She could be a particularly brutal close combat fighter which deeply excited the American girl. It just didn't seem to go with her kind and gentle natured personality at all.

"Falkirk's Fury huh?"

"Do you know the significance of the name?"

"Not really. I'm not well versed in British lore. But if it matters to anything, why don't you explain it to me?"

"Falkirk was the site of two very important battles in British History. You can Google them later if you want. For now though, let us attend to the business at hand."

Maria's answer was to reach around behind her to her lower back and draw her beam rifle. But before she could get it out, Josephine used the beam cannon attached to her right arm to fire off three shots in the time it took her to get her weapon out and start evading.

The American narrowed her eyes at having just lost thirty shield points in the opening moment of the match as she returned fire.

Josephine brought her twin shield bits forward and blocked every single one of Maria's shots. As the two started circling each other, Josephine carefully moved one of her shield bits out just far enough to give her a firing solution to the Meteor, striking it one more time.

"Well… This could get complicated…" Maria thought to herself as she started putting away her rifle. She then pulled out her large buster sword and ignited the blade as she vectored her wings to accelerate towards the Falkirk's Fury.

Josephine withdrew her shields to their original positions behind her back and drew the left side short sword from her hip just as Maria closed the distance. With the shield on her right arm she blocked Maria's mighty sword and forced her to evade a blow from her short sword.

* * *

The arena's control room was dimly lit with a few monitoring stations scattered about. Maya Yamada sat at one station with Chifuyu Orimura standing next to her to observe the battle. The rest of the stations were all manned by senior students who were gaining practical experience for their future jobs by helping with the operation of the advanced technologies which went into an IS arena.

Jennifer balled up her fist tightly as they watched the two attacking each other in a furiously fast paced sword battle. "I see. Josephine's shield is small. So it doesn't get in her way."

"Also it's on her dominant arm. So Maria is trying to break through a very strong defense. Maria is pure offense. But Josephine is a freaking tank. She literally has all day to take her shield down bit by tiny bit, and if she doesn't make any mistakes, Maria will never once trigger her absolute defense," explained McKenna.

Jennifer nodded in agreement. "The problem will be if Maria can figure out how to use her speed against the Falkirk's Fury. The Meteor certainly deserves its name..."

"A units specs aren't what decides a battle. Anyone with a good head on their shoulders can win any fight, under any circumstances, with any disadvantages," explained Chifuyu while watching the match as well. "You know this. Don't let your stinging defeat cloud your judgement."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

Maria backed away while drawing out her beam dagger. "This pain train has no brakes!" she yelled while charging at her opponent.

Like a switchblade, Josephine flipped out the large sword attached to her right arm, she then reversed her grip on her short sword while using the large sword to block the attack. Then she lifted her leg and used her right foot to kick Maria in the chest, knocking her away and then reversing until she was only a few meters above the ground.

Maria charged at Josephine again, but this time activated her ignition boost. With a smirk, Josephine moved to her left and allowed Maria to slam into the arena floor.

"You shouldn't be so proud of that Maria. Brakes are very useful things to have."

With a growl, Maria jumped up out of the crater she made and rushed at the English girl. This time Josephine blocked the Ascalon with one of her shield bits, and used the second to slam Maria back down to the ground.

The American's face took on a vicious scowl as she started skating along the arena floor to dodge beam fire from Josephine's cannon. "This is getting ridiculous. How the hell am I supposed to get around those shields?"

She deactivated the beam dagger in her right hand and then inserted it into the bottom of the buster sword hilt, which doubled the length of her blade, as she vectored her wings to circle back around in a wide arc. With her right hand she drew one of her boomerangs, ignited the beam saber and then carefully selected a flight path for it to follow using her Meteor's tactical display. She then threw the weapon out in a very wide arc before throwing her sword into her right hand and then doing the same with the left side boomerang.

She then adjusted her course and rushed towards Josephine in a wide cork screw to try and evade as much of her weapon fire as she could.

The English girl made sure to track the boomerangs while putting away her short sword. One of her shield bits then turned upside down and floated high above her, allowing her to draw one of her twin great-swords. With a heavy swing Josephine not only knocked Maria's Ascalon out of her hands, she also knocked the girl off course and sent her colliding with the ground.

* * *

"What the hell was that?!" cried McKenna.

"That's Galatine. A sword which manipulates inertia to strike with a force far greater than she alone could wield," explained Chifuyu.

McKenna shook her head and palmed her face, "Sparkly, magical, IS, _bullshit_ … My weapons just do what they say on the tin."

"At least you have a third generation model…" muttered Jennifer.

* * *

Maria shook her head as she got up and started skating backwards away from Josephine along the arena floor. Her shield energy was now down to two hundred and fifty units, and she could not afford to take another hit from that sword.

While she was evading she took a moment to review the data on the shield bits. There had to be a vulnerability to exploit. Reading her mind, the IS brought up the newly available data on the enemy unit based on the observations she made during the fight. It highlighted a box mounted on the back of each shield bit which contained their anti-gravity control systems. That was where she had to strike. But getting to them would be difficult.

Once she was far enough away from where it landed, her Ascalon and beam dagger dematerialized and reappeared on her hips. She held out her hands as the twin beam boomerangs returned to her as they were programmed to do on their own. She reconfigured the boomerangs into long beam sabers and changed course. Preparing to throw the weapons.

Josephine slowed her advance and brought her shield bits forward. Maria activated her ignition boost and closed the gap between them where she switched the modes on her weapons once again to shorten the blades into their boomerang configurations so she could use them as knives.

Maria only knew how to do one thing, and it was one thing she excelled in. The reckless application of brute force and unadulterated violence.

She forced her way into the gap between the shield bits where she used the weapons to stab into the back of the devices, striking the outer boxes which contained the necessary components to make them function. She then followed up with a body slam into the Falkirk's Fury.

* * *

"She _**finally**_ found the weakness of those shield bits…" muttered Chifuyu.

McKenna nodded sadly, "Yeah… I guess Josephine is in some trouble now."

Jennifer pointed to the big screen with great enthusiasm. "Nope! Take a look! She's got this!"

* * *

Josephine swung Galatine across Maria's torso forcing her to once again back off. The American didn't dare try to block that sword for she knew very well what it was capable of now.

"An unstoppable force… That's so fucked up," she muttered while reading over the data on the sword being used against her.

Josephine didn't say anything back, instead she swung her sword again. Maria skated to her right and then swung her sword towards her roommate's midsection, landing her first direct hit of the match.

But Maria overcommitted and went for a follow up strike, allowing Josephine to spin away and return the favor with a solid strike to Maria's own midsection that sent her all the way to the arena wall.

"Damn it all…" muttered Maria while mentally dismissing the warning about her shield energy being dangerously low.

Maria pulled herself together and jumped into the air. She put away her sword and switched back to her beam rifle. She fully opened her wings and started dodging fire from Josephine's beam cannon while returning fire.

* * *

"Looks like Maria decided that she doesn't stand a chance against Josephine in close combat," muttered Jennifer.

"Yeah. But the Meteor is a close combat unit. So what's she thinking?" wondered McKenna.

"So is the Falkirk's Fury. Neither of them favor ranged combat. But this is the only way Cross can even the fight. That sword is just too strong, she can't take anymore hits like that. The only advantage she has over her right now is air to air combat where she can use her speed to its full potential," explained Chifuyu.

"But in a closed space like the arena, the Meteor can't really go much faster than any other IS without slamming into things?"

"True. But it's all the girl's got left. She's desperate and against the ropes. Cornered animals are always the most dangerous, so don't underestimate her right now."

* * *

Maria put the beam rifle into her right hand and continued firing while reaching up to her left shoulder and pulled off her beam boomerang to throw at the approaching English girl. She then reached over to her right shoulder and repeated the action while turning to fly backwards in a circle around the whole arena.

Josephine dodged both boomerangs and continued to chase and fire at the American. Her sword held in her left hand, and her right arm directed at the Meteor to keep it evading her beams.

Maria pulled out her Ascalon sword and ignited it while redirecting her thrust towards the blonde girl.

Josephine narrowed her eyes at the ravenette while flipping out the large sword on her right arm and tightening her grip on Galatine in her left as they closed in on each other.

Maria started turning in a wide corkscrew while Josephine did the same.

As the two drew closer they each prepared themselves for a decisive strike. At the last moment Maria straightened herself out and heaved her sword high and back before bringing it down over Josephine.

Josephine moved to use her right arm to block the sword while raising the sword in her left hand high and back as well.

The two crashed into each other and started spinning around one another until they both hit the ground.

" **Match concluded. Winner: Josephine Williams"**

* * *

Maria panted for breath as she lay in a heap on the floor beside Josephine. Her IS dematerialized from around her before she curled up into a little ball and lay there taking deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" asked Josephine with concern in her voice.

"Uhhh huh… That was just… incredible," she said between breaths, "You wiped the floor with me… And it… It..."

"It what?" she asked while dematerializing her own IS. She then stepped over to kneel down beside the small American.

"It's embarrassing…" Maria muttered in response.

"Yes. Defeat can be embarrassing, especially when you-"

"No! I don't mind the losing, it's just…"

That was when Josephine noticed she was keeping her legs closed especially tightly, and that she had something dripping down her lower thigh.

"Did you… wet yourself?"

"Uhh… Yes. Yes. Let's just say that I did… That's also embarrassing, but at least maybe the crashes I had could maybe explain a loss of bladder control."

"Oh dear lord…" muttered Josephine as she stood up and put her hands on the sides of her head. "Oh dear lord…" she repeated again while looking at Maria's face. She had that glow about her. That serene expression, though it was mixed in with the humiliation she was obviously simultaneously experiencing.

"Please… Don't make a big deal…"

"Fine… Then let me just ask you this. Why didn't you try to save Jennifer's sister? I want an answer."

"Defeating me entitled you to being Class Rep. It doesn't entitle you to make a demand of me," answered Maria while slowly standing up, she then instantly started hopping on her left foot while bending and holding her right. "Ow ow ow! Stupid Quantum Conversion left me without my shoes again! That is so fucking gross!"

"If you didn't just make an enemy of the whole Maintenance Club today, they could have looked at that for you… I want to help you Maria. But I need you to level with me. I need to know things. I need to understand you!"

"There's nothing to understand! My problems are my own! My life is my own! I told you before to either accept me as I am or smother me with a pillow!"

There was a desperation in Maria's voice that she couldn't have missed if she tried. She decided it was worth the risk to press her a bit harder by stepping up to her and placing a hand on her shoulder with a firm grip. "Option two is starting to sound more and more appealing. But what is it Maria? Whatever it is, you don't have to carry it alone!"

"You can't understand me! Nobody can! All you could do is give me empathy. I don't want empathy! I don't care if people don't like me! Yeah it would suck if you hated me too, but I could accept that because at least it's an honest emotion! Empathy is just a fake emotion!"

"No it isn't! The lack of empathy is the cause of the world's problems! Just tell me what happened that day!"

"I can't! Damn it! I can't tell you!"

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because if I open my mouth about anything related to that time in my life then my life as it is now will be over! Even that is more than-" Maria held a hand over her chest… "More than I should have said…"

Maria quickly turned around and started running towards the arena's exit with Josephine hot on her trail.

"Maria! Wait! What's wrong?!"

* * *

That evening, Chifuyu Orimura was slouched back in her office sofa with a splitting headache. "This year's class is going to be the death of me…"

"It can't be as bad as all that. I think they're fine young people."

"I love your optimism Maya. But you can't expect me to believe you don't see what I see."

"It's normal for lines to be drawn between Representative Contenders and regular students. It wasn't any different in my time."

"Those three are only half the problem, but let's start with them. Have you even read their student files?"

"I read all of our student's files."

"Did you read the essay Williams wrote for her application?"

"Yes. I thought it was brilliant."

"So did I. I had no idea what to expect from her, but I was disappointed to say the least."

"Why is that?"

"She's brilliant. But she knows it. She has no interest in classes because she knows all the material already. I don't know how to keep her engaged."

Maya nodded, "Yes. I follow. I think I might have a few ideas about that. But what about the others?"

Chifuyu sighed in annoyance. "Cross… I don't like what I think whenever she comes up. I just want to strangle her. Her parents should have thrown her out and kept the stork..."

"That's… That doesn't sound like you."

"I know. That's what pisses me off. I don't like the way she makes me think of her. After meeting her, I went back and reread her file. I'm convinced everything in there is a complete and utter fabrication. Lies inked in bullshit."

"How do you mean?"

"Everything in there says she's a model student, disciplined, well behaved… It's all bullshit. All of it. One look into those eyes and I know I'm looking at a monster. Doesn't surprise me that Jennifer wanted to take her down, but the fact that she failed surprises me."

"Jennifer Hawkins?"

"Yes. She was my best student last year, and Cross wiped the floor with her. It's all made worse by the fact that Cross is occupying a seat meant for Jennifer's sister."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm not sure what I'm saying yet. Only that I don't believe in coincidence. I'll give you the report about the incident with Amanda Hawkins, you can draw your own conclusions."

"I'll read it. What about Tremblay?"

"She lacks the arrogance of the other two, but it's made up for in naivety. She's smart, very smart. A natural IS pilot. But she needs a kick in the ass for her own good, lest she turn out like her roommates."

Maya smiled knowingly, "I think I just found your favorite of the bunch."

"Those three aside, the next two biggest problems are Arad, and Mayuzumi."

"Yes. I've seen the class looking to Mayuzumi for leadership. But Arad is an instigator. I'm not sure what she has against Cross though. Do you have any idea?"

"None whatsoever. Arad hates Cross, and Cross just seems to enjoy provoking her. It's going to bite her in the ass. It's already bitten her in the ass!"

"Cross really seems to upset you…"

"I just can't stand how destructive she is. I'm even more amazed that Williams and Tremblay haven't asked for a new room assignment. The longest Jennifer had a roommate was one week."

"I think Cross reminds you of Hawkins, and that's why she upsets you so much. She's like an evil version of her."

"You're not far off the mark with that observation. The worst thing I had to reprimand Jennifer for was getting caught climbing cranes in the city. I have a feeling I'm going to look back on those days and miss them."

"What about Mayuzumi?"

"She needs to learn her lessons the hard way. I'll wait and see with her. She has potential, it just depends on the choices she makes, and how quickly she learns from her mistakes… Anyway, you said you had ideas about how to get Williams more engaged?"

"She lives in this intellectual bubble she seems to have formed around herself. You need to get her interested. Meet her on her home ground and fight the battle there. You need to get inside her head and pull her out."

"How do you propose I do that?"

"Well, it says in her file her main hobby is classical literature. So why not pick something to have the class read, and that will get her to come out and actually engage with the class. My hope is that she'll learn to enjoy that engagement and come out to engage on other topics as well."

Chifuyu slowly nodded her head, "That… Is not a bad idea. See? This is exactly why I hired you."

Maya smiled shyly, "I appreciate it, Miss Orimura."

"You don't have to call me that anymore. At least not when we're away from the students, Maya."

"Give me some time on that one."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

" **We don't need no education!"**

Josephine held her book discreetly in her lap as usual, her head tilted down as if to follow along with the textbook but she was more interested in the Three Musketeers. At least that's what she told herself. For the first time in a long time, her heart wasn't in whatever she was reading. She found her attention drifting to the raven-haired girl seated two rows ahead and to the left.

She was public enemy number one, and it had only been a week since the start of school. Maria seemed to be paying attention to the lecture Miss Yamada was delivering, but the view from the back didn't give her much to work with. It probably helped that Maria seemed to have a little crush on their assistant teacher. But she wondered how the American could go on like this. Even though literally everyone in their class was out to get her, she carried on like nothing was wrong.

Music was to Maria Cross what literature was to Josephine Williams. It was fundamental to her very existence. Yet being rejected from the music club didn't seem to affect her at all. Yes, she did _allegedly_ exact some petty vengeance, but was that truly enough to sate her?

Something about how Maria was ignoring the malicious glares from their classmates told her that she had to keep a close eye on her roommate. She was plotting something. Maria was blunt, unfiltered, talented, skillful, intelligent even, but above all; vindictive. She wouldn't just take this abuse coming her way. Maria was very Machiavellian in her approach to life. If she couldn't be loved, she'd want to be feared. Josephine knew her recent victory over the American would embolden her enemies to kick her while she was down. If her guess was correct, Maria would be thinking hard about a way to reassert her dominance over their classmates.

"And that concludes the IS related component of our class. I'll turn the floor back over to Miss Orimura now," announced Maya Yamada.

Josephine turned her head and eyes upon the raven-haired teacher as she stepped up to the podium.

"This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who's been paying attention in class for the past week," she started after taking the podium. She opened a folder and brought out some notes to go over before she continued.

"From now on, I'm going to spend the last quarter of each class covering a broad range of different topics, and no this is not optional," announced Orimura who was met with groans from some of the students.

Josephine however, was nothing short of intrigued.

"You can once again thank Miss Williams for today's lesson. Inside your desks, you'll all find a book. Please take it out."

Josephine reached into the space under her desk and withdrew a plastic wrapped book from there. Her face lit up when she saw what it was.

"Miss Orimura? What is this?" asked the bespectacled Mayuzumi from the front row.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that. Because if you did, I would have to conclude that you're illiterate. Read the cover for the class. Or do you need new glasses?"

"Macbeth, by William Shakespeare. But ma'am? What I don't get is why you want us to read this? What does it have to do with the IS?"

"Williams. Answer her question. If you can."

"Yes ma'am. Macbeth is tragedy about seeking power for its own sake. I'm not sure how to draw comparisons without spoiling the whole story for everyone. But suffice it to say, it's a cautionary tale of what happens when your ambition drives you to do things you aren't capable of handling. Given the way things have been going in this class, I see why you chose this."

"Good. I thought you might. Let's have you, Tremblay, and Cross read the first scene together. Read your lines in that order."

Josephine cracked up a little at the idea, "Yes ma'am, we three witches shall be pleased to accommodate your request," she said while standing up and unwrapping her book. "When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" she recited the first line from memory before getting the book open.

"Uhh… What's a hurlyburly?" asked McKenna.

"A commotion. A scene. A situation," answered Josephine.

"Ahhh. Alright then; _When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won,"_ she read out loud from the book.

"That will be ere the set of sun," read Maria.

It's was Josephine's turn again, "Where the place?"

"Upon the heath," read McKenna.

"There to meet with Macbeth," followed Maria.

"I come, Graymalkin!"

"Paddock calls."

"Anon."

And then, all three of them together read; "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air."

"Exeunt?" read McKenna with a curious eyebrow raised. "What's that mean?"

"That means the actors exit the stage. It's a play, so it's written as a play," explained Josephine.

Orimura clapped for them. "Isn't this fun? Now… Let's see… Mayuzumi! What just happened here?"

The bespectacled girl audibly gulped, "I have no idea… Was this really even in English?"

"Anyone here besides Williams who can explain what this scene is all about?"

Maria slowly raised her hand.

"Go ahead."

"The three witches are talking about meeting again someplace, after a battle, to meet Macbeth."

"On a heath. A heath is a field. Wild land. Land that isn't cultivated," explained Josephine.

"Thank you Williams, but I'm teaching this class. You're right Cross. Very good."

"Uhh. What does 'Graymalkin' mean?" asked Mayuzumi.

Josephine was about to speak but Chifuyu glared and pointed at her as if daring her to speak, she closed her eyes and kept her mouth shut.

"Anyone who isn't Williams have the answer?"

Orimura scanned the room and then sighed with disappointment. "Yes. I expected as much. Ostensibly you're the best and brightest young people in the world... It's no wonder she can't help but read other things in class. Williams. Instead of answering that question, answer me this, how did you figure out the meanings behind these words?"

"Same way most people do. Google."

"There we go. I know everyone in this room has a smartphone. Instead of playing Candy Crush, try using it to educate yourselves."

Josephine lit up brightly at hearing Chifuyu Orimura make the same remark about smartphones that she used to make at school in England.

"Let's move onto the next scene."

* * *

 ****

When lunchtime came around, the three sat down at their usual table with their meals and began eating. Conversation was mundane. Mostly consisting of Josephine expressing her joy at Miss Orimura's idea to dedicate a portion of some of their classes to Macbeth of all things. Which was followed by Maria saying something snarky which the blonde girl let pass through one ear and out the other.

But then, before their conversation could go anywhere, Tatenashi Sarashiki brought her tray and seated herself at their table beside McKenna and then shoved a notebook into her face.

"Tell me what you think of all this!" she demanded excitedly.

With a roll of her eyes, McKenna took the notebook to properly look over what she had come up with.

"Wanna fill me in what you're working on?" asked Maria.

"I'm designing an IS, and McKenna here was nice enough to offer me some critiques."

"The metal work you want to do is trash. But since I take it you're recycling a Russian model, that's to be expected. You should start from scratch here, in this design configuration you need to get more creative. My own IS uses a honeycomb layer of titanium, then a layer of ceramics covered in tungsten. That gives it good heat and impact resistance. But mine is a lot thicker and heavier, so it has to be more rugged than the average. What we need to do is run some simulations to see what ratios and materials would work best for you. Metallurgy isn't my strongest point, but there's plenty of software out there that can do the math for us."

"That's a good call! You really know your stuff!"

"The next thing is these weapons…"

"Unorthodox. I know. But I've never been one to go for anything conventional."

"Why does that not surprise me? Anyway, you're leaving yourself vulnerable to extreme close quarters combat here. With this weapon configuration Maria or Josephine would overwhelm you, and your long range offense isn't much to work with here. I think you need to put in a little more thought and balance this out."

"You do know I've read the specs on your IS right? You shouldn't talk about being vulnerable in close range."

"Nobody is getting close to me without suffering for it."

"Oooh. I do like confident women," she answered with a sultry tone bordering on utter salaciousness.

McKenna looked up from her notebook, the first thing she saw was Maria grinning and giving her a thumbs up. Josephine was looking scandalized by how forward Tatenashi was being all of a sudden. Finally, the Canadian turned to the Japanese girl who had a very flirtatious smirk on her face.

"Are you hitting on me?"

"Would it bother you if I was?"

"It would actually. I have a boyfriend."

"But not a husband. So what's the problem?"

"Boyfriend. Not girlfriend. I don't swing that way."

"Uhh huh. Sure. Alright, then it's just harmless flirting."

"I take it that means you aren't gonna stop?"

"Nope. You're too irresistible for that."

"I'm confident, single, and gay. You can hit on me all you like!" exclaimed Maria in an excited voice.

Tatenashi smiled at the raven-haired girl. "No offense, but you don't have her legs."

"She does have great get away stick doesn't she? And a perfect coconut rack. No offense to you or Josie, but I'm not all that into watermelons."

McKenna widened her eyes at Maria. "You're gay?"

"That's what you got out of this exchange?"

"How did you miss that?" wondered Josephine, "She hasn't even tried to hide the fact that she's been salivating over Miss Yamada. And what exactly is wrong with large breasts? Perhaps you haven't noticed but Miss Yamada's are bigger than mine and Tatenashi's combined!"

Maria shrugged, "It's the glasses. I love the glasses."

"I'm creeped out on so many levels right now, so it's kinda hard to pick one thing to be offended about…" ****

Tatenashi placed her hand gently on McKenna's, "There's nothing to be offended about. You should feel good about being attractive to both genders. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But anyway. You were going to talk about my weapons?"

"Yeah. Moving along…" she then looked down at her hand. "Do you mind?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Tatenashi while taking her hand off the brunette's. "Sorry."

"Right… Quickly moving further on now. There's crippling overspecialization, and then there's being a jack of all trades. What you're doing is neither. It's almost like you don't have any strengths at all. At least not one that's apparent from your choice of weapons. So what is your strong point?"

"Doing whatever, and making it work. I'm not kidding. I literally just do it."

"That makes no sense whatsoever…"

"Maybe if we had a couple sparring sessions you might get an idea?"

"Well, if you want me to help design your weapons, understanding how you fight would go a long way towards helping me do that."

"Sounds like a plan! I'm glad you're not put off by me coming onto you."

"I'll get over it."

"I won't. Fact is that you're giving me mixed signals here! You didn't say you want nothing to do with me," she said with a sly wink.

McKenna palmed her face. "You're the first friend I made here who isn't one of my roomies. Don't read anything more into it than that. Please?"

"You're not helping yourself Kenny," remarked a smirking Maria. "You just said that you're alright with her coming onto you and not giving up on you."

"That's _**not**_ what I said!"

"Yes it was! I'll see you later! Keep the notebook. I'll get back to you when I have some more to show you."

After Tatenashi got up and left, McKenna planted her face into the table with a thud.

"That was so awkward…" she muttered mostly to herself.

"You really do have amazing legs Kenny. Be proud of yourself!" exclaimed Maria.

McKenna groaned loudly in frustration.

"Alright. Alright. You had your fun. Stop embarrassing the poor girl," said Josephine in a soft, but commanding voice.

"You could have bailed me out of that you know…" she said while raising her head to glare at Josephine with her amber eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I suppose I could have. But, I must confess, that was just too much fun, I couldn't not sit back and watch."

"With friends like you… who needs enemies?"

* * *

 ****

Meanwhile in Class 1, Mayuzumi listened with a hand on her chin as some of her classmates voiced their grievances about the Representative Contenders in their class.

"Thanks to Williams, Miss Orimura has us studying Shakespeare on top of our normal classwork. I didn't come to the IS Academy to study archaic english plays. I think we should bring this up to the school's Headmaster," explained one student.

"That's pointless. Miss Orimura has full discretion when it comes to what her classes will involve. We'll get laughed out of the Headmaster's Office. If we even even get a meeting with her at all," answered Daniella Arad. "We need to get aggressive. We can't beat them in IS battles, but we're not powerless. We can go to some of the Representative Cadets and get them to challenge Cross, Tremblay, and Williams? Failing that, we can take matters into our own hands. Start doing to Cross what she's been doing to us. You know?"

Mayuzumi had tried harder to get to know her classmates, and as much as she tried to be a leader to them, she knew enough to know she was failing at it. She had only been chosen because they thought she was the best one to deliver the message to Josephine the other day. After the way Maria had twice humiliated her in front of the whole class she was sure they were simply putting her in charge of the mob so that she alone would be accountable for whatever might happen.

Hence why she was increasingly beginning to fear the girl talking right now. All she really knew about her was her name and nationality. And that she was the most vocal of the group with the most extreme solutions to their problems.

"I think that's a good idea. We should try getting some Representative Cadets to help us," motioned a second student.

"No. That's not a good idea. Don't lose sight of our goal. We want to to bring order to our class, not bully them out of the school," said Mayuzumi to veto the idea.

"Then what do you suggest? Let's be honest, Cross is a bully. Just look at what she did to Hawkins! What she did to you not once, but twice! Out of all of us, you have the most right to hate those three. So what would you do?"

"I think the best way to handle it is to let things play out, eventually Cross will do something that Miss Orimura can't ignore, then she'll have to expel her. It's only the first week. We don't need to rush this and make a bigger mess," answered Mayuzumi.

"No. We need to get aggressive. Divide and conquer. Tremblay seems to be their weakest link. We should try and get her on our side. Once we have that, we gain a valuable ally. One with a lot of useful information. With her on our side we can fight back properly."

"This isn't a war! Stop treating it like one."

"She's right. If you won't do it, one of us will. Getting to Tremblay is a good start. From there we can do a lot more. The longer we wait, the harder it'll be," spoke another student.

"I agree as well," added a second.

"Fine. I'll be the one to do the talking. We don't want to pressure her by going at her as a group or as a collection of individuals. We also don't want to escalate it out of control. So leave it all to me. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

* * *

 ****

Practical training. Something Josephine found herself increasingly dreadful of due to the ever increasing tensions between herself, her roommates, and the rest of their class. The situation was bound to come to a head sooner or later, but given the uncomfortable tension she felt coming off the other students, today looked like it would be the day it finally happened. Especially after Miss Orimura explained what would be happening...

"Today, everyone is going to have a chance to operate an IS. We have five Uchiganes here today for our use," explained Chifuyu while gesturing towards the four IS frames gathered behind her. "I'd like the class to split into groups of six. Each group will be lead by myself, Yamada, Williams, Cross, and Tremblay. Each of us will supervise the rest as they board the IS and run through some basic movesets. Any questions?"

"Yes ma'am. Williams already thinks she's smart enough to be our teacher in class. Why should any of us be taught by someone who isn't a qualified instructor?" asked Daniella, to which many nodded and murmured in agreement.

"And Cross doesn't even care about anyone but herself. Why would she be bothered to give us proper instructions?"

"Yeah! Damn straight! Fuck those bitches!" exclaimed Maria.

"You know they're talking about _**us**_ _,_ right? Or did you miss that part?" asked McKenna.

"I just wanna be a part of the mob," answered Maria with a shrug.

" **Shut up!"** yelled Chifuyu at the top of her lungs. Once there was silence she spoke again. "When I give instructions, they are to be followed. If you don't like it, that's fine. You don't have to do it. It's only the first week of school. I can send you home and replace you with someone who will. So what'll it be? Anyone who wants to be expelled, just leave now, anyone who wants to stay, hurry up and do as you were told!"

* * *

Mayuzumi had a difficult choice, but at least she managed to get into the group with whom she thought she could make some progress towards her goal of winning over McKenna Tremblay.

Getting into a group with Cross would just be a disaster and win her no points. Grouping with Tremblay would have been pointless because directness in her approach could easily backfire. Tremblay had to be made to see how destructive her two roommates really were.

To that end, there was only one person she could group with. Josephine Williams.

All she had to do was make the IS walk. Even if she knew she didn't yet have the skills to go against a Representative Contender, she was still above and beyond what her other classmates seemed capable of. Walking an IS was second nature to her. Or so she thought.

"Lighten your steps there Kaoruko. You're walking like a Lumberjack."

Her eyebrow started to twitch involuntarily as she struggled to keep her calm. "Address me as Mayuzumi. Don't call me by my first name _Williams_! It's very rude in this country!"

"Oh? I'm sorry. I didn't know that. You introduced yourself as Mayuzumi Kaoruko, so I assumed Kaoruko was your family name. I apologize for that. Mayuzumi then. Put the feet down gently. It's like you'd normally walk, not like you're stomping on bugs. Know what I mean?"

Try as she might, she couldn't help but imagine the face of Maria Cross being under each of her footfalls, which probably contributed to her stomping rather than stepping. But the biggest part of her just wanted to use the big metal hand of the Uchigane to swat the English girl away from her.

" **HEY!** Be careful! No need to swing your arms out like that! You almost took my head off!"

She didn't even realize that she had acted on her impulse. "Sorry. So sorry. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing."

"Well you need to be very careful there. The next time you accidentally nearly cause me bodily harm, I'm going to deploy my IS. You don't want it to get to that point, so pay attention."

"Oh. So I make a beginner mistake, and you threaten to beat me up? I think you spend too much time with Cross."

"It's not a threat dear. It's a promise. I'm perfectly capable of being nice, but when you 'accidentally' try to cause me serious injury, I will _**intentionally**_ and _**successfully**_ cause _**you**_ the same."

"Oh yes?" she asked while turning her IS towards the blonde girl walking beside her. "Well please. Do your worst."

"Are you so bitter that you can't let go of your pride and let bygones be bygones?"

"I thought you were going to hurt me. So come on. I'm waiting!"

"Answer her question Mayuzumi," demanded Chifuyu in a spine chillingly cold voice.

"Miss Orimura? Where did you come from?"

"Don't make me repeat myself!"

"What's the point? You had us work with the Representatives when you know we don't get along with them! Just look at Williams! Even from down there, she's looking down on me! She's only the class representative because Cross bullied me out of it. There's no way an Uchigane like this could ever compete with one of their personal units, and-"

"Oh shut up and get down from there this instant!" she then turned to address the other groups as loud as she could. "Everyone stop what you're doing and gather up around Miss Yamada."

Mayuzumi dismounted from her Uchigane as ordered and walked away towards where the other groups were assembling.

With curiosity, Josephine watched as Chifuyu pulled off the track suit she wore to these practical training sessions and revealed the piloting suit she had on under it. With practiced ease, she climbed up into the still standing Infinite Stratos and then walked the unit towards the assembled students. She followed close behind the Uchigane until she joined the other students to listen to whatever their teacher had to say to them. ****

"I'm getting sick and tired of the shit that's going on in this class. Mayuzumi thinks an Uchigane can never compete with any of the personal IS units in this class, or others. Does anyone here share that opinion?"

The hands of everyone except the three Representatives, and Miss Yamada, all went up.

"What a bunch of idiots. I haven't used an IS in a long time. So I might be a little rusty. But I'm going to show you all, _**myself**_ , just what this Uchigane is properly capable of if you all pay attention and train yourselves properly. Let's see now… Tremblay. You're the only one who hasn't had a fight since you've been here. Activate your IS and show me what you've got!"

McKenna audibly gulped as all eyes fell upon her

"Ma'am… I don't think that's a good idea… My IS isn't exactly-"

"I'm sure everyone appreciates the concern you have for them. If not, then they probably will soon enough. Now hurry up."

"Yes ma'am," she answered while stepping out and away from the rest of the class.

"This should be interesting," remarked Maria while watching McKenna walk away.

"Vimy Glide!" yelled McKenna while holding out her right hand. The ring on her finger gave off a green glow before the quantum conversion matrix fully enveloped her and left her standing in her personal Infinite Stratos.

Maria smirked and Josephine's eyes widened at what they saw.

"Well alright! Go Canada!" exclaimed the raven-head.

Even Mayuzumi's eyes widened behind her glasses in utter disbelief at what she was seeing. The Vimy Glide was the heaviest IS she'd ever seen or heard of. Painted army green. It was big, thick, boxy, and more like a walking tank than an Infinite Stratos. In her right arm was the largest calibre gun she'd ever seen an IS use. Behind both of her shoulders were two pods, each with two barrels covered in thick armor. The massive legs had, what looked like doors in the fronts, and something bulging out the sides the function of which she couldn't identify. At her hips, and attached to the backpack were two more pods with doors on the front of them, the function of which she also couldn't identify. But she knew an artillery type IS when she saw one, and this IS was the heaviest and most well armed artillery type she'd ever seen, heard of, or even imagined.

Maria looked at the thing with a wide grin. Particularly noting the decals she had adorned the IS with. The twin pods had red maple leaves spray painted on the tops. The side of the left pod had a sticker that made it look like the armor had a hole in it with a hockey puck blasting out of it. The right shoulder had the Calgary Flames emblem stuck to it.

"Miss Orimura. Respectfully. I still don't think this is a good idea," the Canadian said softly to her teacher.

"It'll be fine Tremblay. Miss Yamada. Please get everyone behind the shield. This is going to be messy."

"Yes ma'am. Come on everyone. Get to the stands. Quickly now," ordered Maya.

McKenna took a few heavy steps away from Chifuyu which didn't go unnoticed by Mayuzumi. It couldn't have been missed by anyone because the weight of the machine made the ground shake enough that she could feel it from meters away.

Mayuzumi smirked at Josephine as they walked towards the stands. "Shouldn't you be telling her to walk instead of stomp?"

"Shouldn't you be updating your Tinder profile or something? Keep talking shit like this and your only future is gonna be in compensated dating. Yes, I know that's a thing here."

"The fact that you know about that after only being here for a week says more about you than me…"

"Don't worry. I'd hire you."

"Fuck you!"

"How much do I have to pay you for that?"

The bespectacled girl started walking more quickly to get away from the situation.

"Was it just me, or did she have steam coming out of her ears?"

"Amusing as that was, you're not going to make anything better if you keep acting this way."

"It's not my job to make their lives better."

"You could try showing some humility, that might get you less hostility."

"Yes. My mom used to tell me how humility is an important quality. It certainly was for her since she was wrong a lot."

"Has it ever occurred to you that if you be nice to people, they'll be nice to you?"

"My inner evil bitch doesn't come out for no reason. We happen to live in a universe where effect follows cause. I've complained about it to the man upstairs but he has a shitty customer service team."

* * *

McKenna watched after her roommates as they filed into the stands. She didn't have to be there with them to get a sense of the open hostility they were getting from their classmates. It started to fill her with anger.

"I'm getting so sick of this… I don't even understand how it escalated to this point."

"Tremblay. Let it go," ordered Chifuyu. "If you want to put them in their places, then stand up to me for just ten seconds longer than any of them ever could. Do you understand?"

McKenna nodded her understanding, "Yes ma'am. I'll do my best."

Once all her classmates were safely away and behind the arena's defense shield. McKenna activated the thrusters in her feet and lower back to bring her to a hover. Then she and Chifuyu started skating towards the center of the arena where they started to circle around. Her long brown ponytail fluttered in the wind behind her, her amber eyes locked on the eyes of her teacher and they calmly assessed one another. She knew the Japanese Uchigane was at a severe disadvantage against her Vimy Glide in terms of weaponry. But she also knew the Uchigane had the advantages of speed and maneuverability.

But McKenna also knew that none of it mattered. Chifuyu Orimura was the best IS pilot in the world, so trying to reduce this fight to the statistics of their respective units was meaningless and futile. She imagined Chifuyu could probably wipe the floor with her bare handed if she were so inclined.

* * *

"Anyone know when the last time Miss Orimura fought a match was?" asked one student.

"Not a clue…" muttered another in response.

Josephine however chose to pay attention to what was on the screen rather than just be drawn into mindlessly watching what was about to transpire. The Vimy Glide was an artillery type IS. Now she understood why their teacher ordered them all to get behind the shield. She probably wasn't exaggerating when she said it would get messy.

* * *

Meanwhile. Chifuyu materialized the Uchigane's long katana like sword into the holster located on the right hip of her unit and then drew it out.

"High ex!" yelled McKenna while moving her feet forward and accelerating out of the circle in reverse.

Chifuyu angled the Uchigane's feet to change her direction and shot off after the Vimy Glide with her sword held out to her left side.

As her opponent came close. McKenna held out her left arm towards her instructor. The top of her forearm flipped open.

Chifuyu prepared herself to evade whatever weapon was about to be fired upon her but then she realized that whatever it was wasn't a weapon in the traditional sense. She felt a growing sharp and throbbing pain in her ears. Her eyeballs started vibrating and her vision became distorted. First she saw double, then triple, and quadruples before the world started spinning around her as well.

McKenna kept her arm pointed at Chifuyu until she was a safe distance away and then stopped to plant her feet firmly in the ground and raised up her cannon. She folded away the weapon on her forearm and took a hold of the handle on top of the cannon she held in her right arm and fired on the raven-haired woman with a high explosive shell, striking her dead on and sending her flying all the way across the arena.

She then activated the two pods at her shoulders which moved up over her head and aimed themselves up into the air. One after the other, the twin pods' four barrels launched high explosive mortars at where she calculated Chifuyu would land.

But Chifuyu was too quick to pull herself together after the initial attack and the high explosive shell she took and started moving as quickly as the IS could take her away from where the four mortar shells would land, easily evading the four explosions that would have taken her out of this match had they struck.

* * *

"Holy crap… How did she do that? She totally blew her away!" exclaimed Maria.

"I have no idea…" muttered Josephine.

"She used a sonic cannon to incapacitate her. That must be the Vimy Glide's third generation ability. Absolute defense will trigger to protect the pilot from injury. But it can't actually block sound waves," explained Mayuzumi.

"That's genius!" exclaimed Maria.

"Of course you'd enjoy such a dirty trick…" growled the bespectacled girl.

* * *

Chifuyu started to close the distance again and managed to evade two more high explosive shells from the Vimy Glide's massive handheld cannon. McKenna prepared to use her sonic weapon again but this time the instructor understood what it was and how it worked. She changed her approach accordingly to angle herself away from the weapon.

Without a sustained attack, the sonic cannon wouldn't have enough effect. Or so she thought. But once McKenna had an angle of attack she wasted no time and fired the sonic cannon at its maximum setting. The impact not only triggered the absolute defense, but hit her almost as hard as the high explosive shell. It was enough to knock her back and down onto the ground. The sound it made was powerful enough to cause even the students in the protected stands to cover their ears and cringe in pain as the sonic vibrations reverberated around them.

McKenna didn't waste the chance and stopped hovering to dig her feet into the ground and fire.

Unfortunately, by the time she prepared herself to fire. Chifuyu was back up and closing the distance again. She squeezed the trigger of her massive cannon and fired on her teacher.

Chifuyu strafed to her left and evaded the shot, with a burst of speed from the Uchigane's main thrusters she closed the gap. It was no Ignition Boost, but it was enough to get close and strike.

McKenna took two hits from the massive sword by the time she managed to start skating again and get evasive. The Vimy Glide wasn't faster, but its pilot was a very smart skater. She was one with her IS. She understood how to use her momentum combined with her thrusters to keep her in motion and change directions. She knew how and when to stop. When to duck, when to jump.

Chifuyu was _impressed_ with the girl's instincts. She took two hits, but she evaded several others. It was a waiting game now to see who would make the next mistake and allow the other to strike with their sword, or gain the distance they needed to use their explosives.

McKenna watched the sword pass just in front of her face as she stopped and reversed to evade the next sword strike. She then lifted her foot and used the thruster to put her into an anti-clockwise spin to kick the back of the Uchigane hard enough to knock her out of position for her next strike. She then capitalized by lifting her other leg and then used her main thrusters to execute a double kick on the teacher's back as she's seen Jennifer Hawkins do to Maria Cross in their battle. Only she adapted the move to take advantage of the weight of her massive frame.

After knocking her teacher into the ground she took off a few meters into the air and aimed her cannon and both mortar pods to unleash her full firepower upon the instructor. The massive recoil sent her even higher into the air where she opened the pods on the sides of her hips and massive legs. She then watched as her augmented reality displayed a target lock for the thirty missiles contained in the four pods and launched them all.

Chifuyu launched herself into the air, the concussion from the explosions behind her accelerating her through the swarm of missiles which then started turning in wide arcs to pursue her. She closed the gap to the Vimy Glide before she could flip open the sonic cannon and struck her with the sword as she passed her by and got behind her. She then wrapped her arm and legs around the student and waited while the missiles came back towards them both.

McKenna struggled to get free before activating all her engines in desperation. That was when Chifuyu let her go. The next thing she knew she was hit by her own missiles and everything went black.

* * *

"Kenny? Kenny?" she heard her name before someone started to gently slap her face.

McKenna's eyes fluttered open before looking up to see the face of Maria Cross holding her head in her lap with Josephine Williams sitting off to her side, and Maya Yamada sitting to the other side.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"You got your ass handed to you. That's what. You got like a whole swarm of missiles to the face. It set off your mandatory unlock. Miss Orimura had to save you from getting splattered all over the floor here," answered Maria with a gleeful voice.

"Yeah… I remember now. I screwed up so badly at the end. I went all in, and then she got behind me, and I panicked."

"Yes you did. But that's not why you lost," said Chifuyu as she stepped into McKenna's view. "You only lost because you didn't have the close combat skills or the maneuverability to evade me in the air. On the ground, you fought on a level far above and beyond what I've ever seen any student in this academy achieve. But you lost the moment you took flight. The higher you flew, the more sloppy and desperate you became. That's where you need to sharpen your skills."

"Yes ma'am. I apologize for disappointing you."

"Is that what you got from what I just told you? After what you did to me, you've got bragging rights. I suggest you enjoy them. Cross, Williams, go get her cleaned up. I have to do the paperwork for this mess we made of the arena."

* * *

Josephine walked with Maria and McKenna back towards the dorm buildings after getting the Canadian cleaned up in the arena's washroom. The mundane conversation they were having was interrupted by McKenna's phone ringing.

"Hey there! Sorry I didn't text you after training. I sort of got knocked unconscious… Well. I dueled my teacher and she messed me up."

Josephine and Maria looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Just on my way back to the dorm with my roomies now. What's up? Did something happen? Ok. I understand. Hold up. I'll just… Sorry, could you two excuse me for a bit?"

Josephine waved her off while Maria scoffed.

"Whatever happened to that dumb fuck isn't as bad as what happened to you. You should be getting rest, not dealing with his drama."

"Yeah. That was Maria. He heard you."

"Put him on facetime so he can see me flip him off too."

"Maria… Don't interfere with her and her boyfriend. Let's just go. She's a big girl, she can take care of herself. It's not our business if he's a tosser."

"He heard that too… Thanks a lot. That's twice today you've put me in an awkward situation…"

"What's a tosser?"

"I'll tell you later…"

Once the two were alone, Josephine turned her head slightly to see the shorter raven-haired girl walking beside her. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No. Why? Did you do something?"

"Yes. But not to you."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not. But I'm sure you'll find out eventually. So what's on your mind Josie?"

"Stop calling me that… Grr. I wanted to ask you about that day in Arizona. I want to know why you left her sister to fall to her death."

"She didn't die. Why does everyone talk like she's dead? She's an invalid, not a ghost."

"See… This is what I don't understand about you. You're so unbelievably callous to strangers. But I saw your face when McKenna's unlock triggered. I saw how relieved you were when Miss Orimura saved her from that fall. Are you so incapable of understanding that other lives matter beyond the ones which matter to you?"

"Blame Darwin for that. We all have an evolutionary imperative to give a shit about the people close to us. But there's also an evolutionary imperative not to give a shit about anybody else. If we cared about all people indiscriminately, we couldn't survive. A hundred thousand years of successful adaptation in a survival of the fittest kind of world can't be wrong Josie."

"Why stop evolving then? Surely if you believe in evolution you can recognize that at this point in our development there's a need for us to care about everyone and not just those close to us. If we can't cooperate with each other, if we can't empathize with each other, we'll bring about our own extinction. It's almost happened enough times in the last three decades. Especially since the IS came along."

"That's nice. Utopianism. I like that. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Humans are capable of creativity. So we can invent new ideas, philosophies, music, TV, the internet… But every one of these creations reveals our true nature to us. They're all used selfishly. Humanity is a big contradiction. Selfish social animals. To survive, you have to care about yourself first, your herd second, and nobody else. Sometimes people go against their nature and try to be heros. Sometimes they're successful and get fame and recognition. We hold them up as examples of how we should all be. But in any large group, you're going to find aberrations. Like an albino Zebra, a two headed snake, or a homosexual human,

"The aberrations are interesting because they deviate from the norm, and that's intrinsically fascinating. Until the aberrations start asking for things. Start suggesting that more should be like them. Then it becomes about the survival of the species. Hence why aberrations remain aberrations. Because they don't breed, or worse, they get killed off by the other animals. The only difference between us and the animals is that we can imagine ourselves to be better. But it's all just denial."

"Aberration? The only aberration here is people not understanding the concept of basic human decency! At some point, you're going to have to realize that psychopathy isn't a philosophy. It's a mental disorder. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can start doing something about it!"

"I'm not psychotic. I'm pretty sure about that. I'm perfectly capable of feeling empathy and other emotions. I'm just highly selective about where, when, and to whom I give my fucks. If I didn't, I couldn't function."

"Never mind what happened in that desert. Now I'm more interested to know what screwed up your world view this badly!"

"My world view isn't screwed up. It's just based on my experiences. Which are very different from yours."

"What horrid experience could make you this way? I still refuse to believe that you're this apathetic. You can't be. Nobody really is. Not voluntarily anyway."

"Sorry to disappoint you. With me, what you see is what you get. I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. So if you wanna push this pointless topic, go ahead, but my answers won't change."

"You haven't actually given me any answers. At least not to my actual questions."

"How's this then? If you keep sticking your nose in my business, you might get herpes. So I advise you to refrain from doing that in the strongest possible terms."

"Things without all remedy should be without regard: what's done is done," recited Josephine.

"What's that from? And what's it suppose to mean?"

"It's from Macbeth. As for what it means, well, pay attention in class, and you'll find out."

* * *

" _I knew that once you got there you'd stop loving me. It only took you a week."_

McKenna took a deep breath, her eyes widened in disbelief at what she heard. "That's not true…"

She sat alone on the stonework bridge that cross the stream on the path leading up to the dorms. The sun was setting, and most of the students were busy with their club activities after classes and training, thus leaving the area deserted.

" _Yes it is. A week ago you never would have let those two make fun of me like that. I'm not there to defend myself. I thought I could always count on you to stick up for me if I couldn't do it for myself. I never hesitate to stick up for you whenever I need to."_

"I didn't just let them!"

" _What did you do to stop them? Nothing. That's what. When someone made fun of you over here, I knocked their teeth out."_

"And then I'd have to come to your rescue with a hockey stick before they beat you to death…"

" _That's what partners do for each other. But it's not what you did for me. You did nothing."_

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. That won't ever happen again!"

" _How can I forgive you for that? It's a betrayal. The second worst kind. But I think it would hurt less if you had just cheated on me. At least I can understand physical needs. I can't understand you just letting them talk about me that way and not saying anything."_

"I did say-"

" _You didn't say anything they'd understand as you defending me. You just told them off for starting an argument. You didn't tell them off for talking about me like that."_

"I will tell them. I'll tell them very harshly!"

" _I don't believe you. You're probably just going to go back to your room, boot up your laptop, and then I'll see you playing World of Warships. You can be pretty weak willed when it comes to this kind of thing. You don't want to ruin your friendships, and you don't want to ruin your love life. You wanna have your cake and eat it too."_

"What do you expect me to do? Fight them? I have to live with them. It's not like I can just sleep outside!"

" _I would. I have. For you, I've done a lot of crazy things."_

"I'm not going to get myself expelled from here. Don't you understand that this is my dream? This is my goal?"

" _I used to be your dream, and your goal. Until you got picked to be an IS pilot. Then all your promises got amended and changed. Where do I fit into this dream of yours now? Or will you amend the biggest one? Instead of 'I'll always love you' will it be 'I'll always love you, unless you come between me and being a gladiator for the faceless masses who either wanna be me, or fuck me.' Hmm?"_

"That is so not-"

" _Don't try to deny it. That's exactly what it is now. First you forget to message me. Then you get too distracted to talk to me. Now you're putting two strangers above me. You could ask for another room if they're going to interfere in your personal life. The only reason you don't stand up to them is because you like them more than me now. You don't love me anymore. That's the only reason your first instinct wouldn't be to yell your head off at them for talking about me that way. After all you and I have been through together, all you manage is a sarcastic 'thank you' to them for starting an argument between us. That's not what a person in love does."_

"It won't happen again. I promise. I'm sorry. It's just been a long day. I was knocked unconscious during my fight. The whole day I've been having to put up with our classmates-"

" **Our** _classmates? You see? You think of yourself as one of them. You're not one of them. They're not your friends. They're just people you share a room with. Friends wouldn't talk badly about the people you care about."_

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… Please forgive me. I love you so much! I miss you so badly! Please don't be mad at me! I can't stand that thought… It hurts too much..."

" _Then you should have thought about that at the time. That should always be the number one thought in your mind. It's always my first thought. The only reason it wouldn't be for you is because you're lying to me when you say you love me."_

"I'm sorry… I'm really truly sorry… I really do love you! I love you so much!"

Silence. That's all she heard from the phone.

"Hello? Hello? Are you there? Talk to me! Please!"

She took the phone off her ear to see that the call had been ended. She quickly tried to call him back. The call was rejected. She called again. Rejected again. Over and over she tried to call him but it was the same each time. Finally, with tears streaming from her eyes she started typing up a lengthy message for him.

* * *

Mayuzumi walked towards the freshman dorms with her feet bare and an irritated scowl on her face. Once again, Maria had made a fool of her in front of the class. But as she approached the bridge across the stream leading to the dorms, she spotted McKenna sitting on the railing. By herself with a dark cloud hanging over her. Her head was down cast, the bangs of her hair obscuring her face in shadows cast by the light above her. Then the fountain embedded in the stream erupted, the illumination used to improve the aesthetic appeal of the fountain also clearly illuminated the Canadian's teary face.

As much as she didn't think it was a good idea to try and turn McKenna Tremblay against her roommates, she also couldn't just ignore someone so obviously in pain. Chances were good that her roommates were the source of her turmoil, and if they were, it would make her mission easier. If they weren't, she supposed that would make it less difficult to befriend her.

"Tremblay? Are you alright?" she asked the brunette.

McKenna looked up at the girl with her teary amber eyes. "Not really."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked while sitting down beside the Canadian on the bridge's railing.

"No offense, but it's kind of personal."

"Family problem?"

"Boyfriend problem."

"Ah. I guess I couldn't really help you with that anyway. I've never had a boyfriend."

"Umm, why no shoes?" asked McKenna while looking down at the bespectacled girl's bare feet.

"Because _someone_ glued my shoes to my locker while I was in the shower."

"Maria?"

"Do you know anyone else in our class who would do something so immature?"

The brunette raised her eyebrow curiously, "Did you do something to her?"

"That's sort of how it is between me and her now. She does something, I try to retaliate, I fail, she escalates…"

"Do you want some advice?" she asked while wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her uniform jacket.

"Since I can't offer you any on your problem, sure."

"Back down from her. She's a lot less abrasive when you're on her good side. If you let this escalate, I think it'll get very serious. I don't know how far she'll go, but considering what I know about her, it won't be fun for anyone. So far she hasn't given a damn about a girl who's completely paralyzed from the neck down. Maria didn't try to save this girl from this potentially lethal fall that led to her condition. We can't prove, but we know she set off those sprinklers. She's intelligent. Probably second only to Josephine. With that level of smartness, and that level of callousness, do you really want to risk provoking her?"

"I can't just let her get away with it. Something has to be done. But it's not just her. It's Josephine too. You can't not see that. Both of them are toxic to the class, just in different ways."

"Your responses to her provocations have only caused you more problems. You have to accept that you're no match for her. As for your allies in the rest of the class. Well. A group is only as smart as its dumbest idea, and as strong as its weakest member. You're already losing to Maria. If you go to war with Josephine too, you're gonna get properly fucked. None of you stand a chance against them. Especially if you're all united. Because if you do, then Josephine and Maria will team up against you. Right now, Josephine is the only one trying to reason with Maria and hold her back. If that stops, it'll be a nuclear war."

"Interesting observations. I thought you were the quiet and shy type who minded her own business and tried to stay out of conflict."

"People think that I'm quiet because I'm shy, but in actuality I have been silently judging you all, and can properly confirm that you're all cunts. Except for Josephine. She's actually probably the nicest person I've ever met in my life."

"Heh. I see why you get along with Maria now."

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying this only because I want to insult you. I'm saying it because you seem to need a dose of reality. If you go to war with Maria Cross, you'll lose. You have neither the wits nor the weapons to fight on that level."

"So I should just let her do whatever she wants and get away with it?"

"Yes. The only way out of this is to take the high road. Don't lower yourself to her level. Never fight your enemy on their terms. It's very basic warfare. Only fight the battles you can win, and to win, you have to draw her into a fight you've already won."

"Does that mean you're willing to help me beat her?"

"No. I'm not going to get involved. I've got enough of my own problems. But you obviously want me to be your ally as well."

"No. I want us to be friends."

"We can be friends. But I won't take a side. As long as you don't ask me to do that, we can be friends, and I will try to help you resolve things. But I won't take a side. Remember, at the end of the day, I still have to live with them, and as a rule of thumb, I don't shit where I eat."

"I don't understand the three of you at all. You in particular I don't understand. You see the injustice of the situation, but, you're not willing to do anything about it because you live with them? You could get another room easily enough."

"That's why you're losing. Because you don't try to understand them. But like I said before, I've been watching everyone. Josephine is a problem solver. She takes a problem, and studies it. She asks for input when she doesn't understand things, then she puts together a solution. You could work with her if you wanted to."

"Then why does she cause so many problems?"

"She doesn't do it on purpose. She gets the class assigned the extra homework because she can't help being bored. Everything we're covering, she already knows. So do I, and so does Maria, and I think, so do you. We all manage that boredom in different ways. Josephine is a compulsive bookworm. But why is she that way? Miss Orimura even pointed out that she has no fear of the consequences. So in response, she's making us read Macbeth because she wants to keep Josephine paying attention in classes by giving her something she finds interesting that'll get her invested in the class and her classmates."

"That makes sense. But it isn't right. Orimura threatens to expel the rest of us for less. Why is she going this extra mile for Josephine?"

"That's a question only she can answer. All I could offer are assumptions, and if you recall your experience with Occam's Razor, you know that assumption is the mother of all fuck ups."

"What about Maria?"

"That's a good question. I don't understand her. All I can make about her are assumptions as well. She's very guarded about herself. She doesn't say anything about her own life experiences. She once told us to either accept her as she is, or smother her with a pillow."

"I would be happy to do that for her."

"I'm sure you would be. I should head back to my dorm now. It's dark and I'm sure they'll probably worry about me. Well, Josephine will, Maria not so much."

"Yeah. She'll probably look for you. I'd look for my roommate if she didn't come back on time."

"No. She wouldn't. She can't. It's after sunset, she's afraid of the dark. So she'll probably try to talk Maria into looking for me, since I went out to find her once when she didn't come back on time. Then I ended up staying out all night talking to my boyfriend."

"Ahh, so that's why you were falling asleep in class that day."

"Yes. Exactly. They won't be happy with me if I did that again."

"Don't worry, it's the weekend. Tell you what, I was planning to get to work on that essay about Che Guevara or whatever it was. I remember you said you were into military history, wanna work together so we don't have to stress over it later?"

McKenna thought about it for a moment before answering, "Sure. I don't see why not."


	5. Chapter 5

**Note from the authors:**

Sorry it's been a while since we updated this (or anything) but all our lives have been in a major state of transition and choas. Education, employment, family, all in a state of upheaval. But we're back now, and we haven't forgotten anything about anything we're working on. Expect this story to continue getting updates, along with our other stories in the near future.

We hope you enjoy this and the coming chapters. We have everything up to chapter 9 written up, and all that remains is for us to polish, proofread, and make some small edits here and there before releasing them to you.

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

" **Out on the town"**

Josephine awoke and slowly sat up in her bed, she looked around to find herself seemingly alone in the dorm room. That in itself was strange, but then she heard the shower turn on and realized she wasn't completely alone. She stood up and looked up at the two bunk beds. The bottom one was recently made, but the top bunk looked like it hadn't even been slept in. Once again McKenna hadn't come back to the dorm.

She shook off the thought for the moment. It was the weekend, so the Canadian didn't have to worry about staying awake in class. With heavy steps she waddled towards the bathroom like a sleep deprived penguin to begin her morning hygiene ritual.

"Good morning Josie!" greeted a cheerful Maria from inside the shower. "Wanna come in and scrub my back?"

"I'll pass…" she said while running the sink, she then splashed cold water on her face to fully wake herself up.

"You're no fun!"

"Did McKenna come in at all last night?"

"No idea. I was asleep before you and didn't wake up until a little while ago."

"I'm worried about her."

"She's a big girl Josie. She was either talking to her boyfriend all night, or maybe Tatenashi managed to seduce her. Either way, there's nothing to worry about. Except my jealousy if it turns out to be the latter. Though… I suppose the real question is who should I be more jealous of? Kenny for getting Tatenashi, or Tatenashi for getting Kenny? It's so hard to choose. They should just have a threesome with me. That'll probably be the best way to get me un-confused about- **AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!** "

Josephine looked up at the semi transparent shower door as Maria flailed around to get away from the water after she flushed the toilet.

"Now maybe you should try a cold shower?" she suggested with mild amusement.

* * *

After getting her morning shower, Josephine opted for a pair of dark colored jeans and a turtleneck pullover with vertical stripes in her favorite shade of British racing green. She thought she was careless about her clothing, but Maria made her look like a fashion model in comparison. Maria wore old faded jeans, over which she was lacing up brown heeled boots that went up to just under her knees, and a white loose fitting t-shirt with the image of Johnny Cash's back carrying a guitar on it, and just in case someone out there didn't know what the man in black looked like, it also had 'CASH' written underneath the man's image. Over that she wore a simple plain black hoodie.

"Have you thought about joining any other clubs?" asked Josephine as the two were getting dressed.

"Naa. The music club would have been fun, but I don't want to be in a club that accepts people like me as members," remarked Maria while lacing up a pair of brown leather boots.

"Nobody does," she muttered in response while slipping into some sandals.

"Huh? I missed that."

"It wasn't important. I just think you need find something to do that gives you fulfillment."

"Piloting the Meteor gives me plenty of that. I'll just spend the time I would have spent jamming on training. You have a tournament coming up, so we could train together. I need to figure out how to defeat that freaky sword of yours."

"I wouldn't honestly mind if you did. I need to be challenged to improve."

"Who knew we had so much in common? Now I just need to return the favor by beating you."

"I look forward to it. Now hurry up before we miss breakfast!"

"I've got fourteen of these on each boot. Go on without me, I'll catch up."

* * *

Josephine sat down at their usual table with two meals and set them down, instead of waiting, she decided to go ahead and start eating while looking through the news on her phone.

Maria walked into the cafeteria where she spotted Josephine and the extra tray with food at the table, she then went and sat down with her.

"May I ask you something Maria?"

"Of course you can."

"A man in America had a heart attack and had to be rushed to hospital. After that he became homeless because he couldn't afford to pay the hospital bill. Why does it have to be that way? In the UK, if you go into hospital for an emergency, you pay _**nothing**_. In fact, they'll even give _**you**_ money for transportation after they release you if you need it."

"Do I look like the kind of girl who has answers to questions like that?" she asked while shoveling some scrambled eggs onto her toast.

"No… I suppose not. I'm just curious is all."

"The American mentality is that you're only entitled to what you can afford to buy," said Maria while looking at her plate. "You work hard, you make money, you buy what you need. You get what you deserve, and what you deserve is based only on the size of your bank account."

"I thought you had no answers to such questions? That wasn't a bad attempt at answering at all."

Maria shook her head. "I try not to think about shit like that. I've seen enough to know first hand that people's wallets are only empty when it comes to helping other people. We don't have the social solidarity mentality that enables other countries to pull together and make life better for everyone and not just themselves."

"Sounds like you've had some personal experience with it?"

Maria sighed, "Mind if we just focus on eating these rancid meals?"

Josephine nodded and the the two ate in silence until she spotted Jennifer Hawkins wandering the cafeteria with a tray and searching for an empty seat.

Josephine was rather impressed with how she was dressed. She wore very light blue jeans with brown heeled boots, and a loose fitting beautifully embroidered long sleeved top. She was sure those kinds of tops had a name but Josephine was never one to care too much about the specifics of clothing, as long it looked good on her and was comfortable and practical to wear, she would wear it and not question it. It was painfully obvious though the the Australian girl did pay attention to what she wore, either that or being a Representative Cadet came with a wardrobe supervisor. It could have been either.

"Jennifer! Over here. Come join us."

"Uhh…" she uttered while narrowing her blue eyes at raven-haired American. "I don't think that's a good idea. But thank you."

"Don't be silly. She won't bite you."

"Don't be so sure about that Josie. She probably tastes better than whatever this is suppose to be," remarked Maria while pointing to her plate.

"Maria… for the last time, my name is Josephine! Now Jennifer. Please. I insist. Join us. It'll be fine. Come on."

"Yeah. Sit down with us and enjoy this lovely breakfast which looks like it was rolled onto our plates by dung beetles," the American said with too much enthusiasm.

"Lovely mental image with which to begin the day…" muttered Jennifer while sitting down beside Josephine.

"I'll not lie but I am glad you decided to join us. How have you been?" asked Josephine.

"Same as usual," she answered before narrowing her blue eyes at Maria. "What are you looking at? Does it bother you that I'm sitting here?"

"I'm emotionally lazy, and you're bothered enough for both of us, so I don't gotta do shit."

"Then stop staring at me like that!"

"Can't help it. You're _really_ **sexy** when you're pissed off."

"Get stuffed!"

"Stop it!" yelled Josephine. "Obviously you two aren't going to resolve your issues in one sitting. But I'm confident that if you set aside the hostility, Jennifer will get the answers she wants, and Maria… Well, there's nothing in this for you except my continued respect and friendship."

"A line in the proverbial sand huh? Hmmm…" she then looked back to the Australian, "Alright. What do you wanna know?"

"You know the question. Why didn't you try to save her?"

Maria narrowed her crimson eyes for a long moment before closing them.  
 _  
_"It's simple really, god told me leave her and move on to other business," answered a shrugging Maria.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes at the raven-haired girl, neither she, nor Josephine looked amused with the American girl's casual dismissal of the question.

"You're unbelievable…" muttered Jennifer in disbelief.

Josephine nodded, "I have to agree. But I just have one follow up question for you Maria."

"What's that?" asked the ravenette.

"Do you honestly mean to say that you're willing to end up all alone in this school with no friends at all, rather than give Jennifer a straight and honest answer to her question?"

Maria nodded while speaking with an indifferent tone, "Pretty much, yeah."

"Do you just hate me that much or are you just that stupid? I know what it's like to be alone. You don't want that."

Maria's crimson eyes snapped onto Jennifer's blues with the most serious look the Australian had yet seen from her. Even Josephine felt uncomfortable with the look on her roommate's face.

"You don't know _**anything**_ about what it means to be alone. You're not alone until you've been buried alive without anyone to talk to, no one to care about you, not even anyone to make fun of you. You have a sister, you have bullies, and you have Josephine who for whatever reason seems to give a shit about you. When you have none of that. When you have everything that brings even the tiniest bit of meaning to your pointless existence stripped away from you. When you experience what it's like to be in a state of death where you're alive but not actually living... _**then**_ you can come talk to me about what it means to be alone. Until then... keep your fucking mouth shut about it."

Maria then stood up, her breakfast forgotten. "I'll meet you by the monorail once it's open. If you're not on that first ride into town. I'll assume you aren't coming," she said to Josephine before walking away.

"Well. That was harsh," muttered Josephine before sipping her coffee.

"What the hell screwed her up so badly?" wondered Jennifer out loud.

"I've been asking both myself and Maria that exact question. But the more important question for the moment is if your curiosity outweighs your hatred? If so. You're invited to join us today. We're going into the city to have a look around."

"Been there. Done that."

"Then you could show us around?"

Jennifer mulled it over in her mind for a long moment. "Knowing I will probably regret this later… I'll come."

Before Josephine could say anything further on the matter she noticed McKenna standing beside their table with a tray of food.

"What the hell did I miss?" wondered the Canadian as her head turned to see Maria exiting the cafeteria.

"Just Maria being Maria…" lamented Josephine. "Glad to see you're alright. Where were you all night?"

McKenna seated herself at the table with a huff, "I was with Mayuzumi. She invited me to work together on that essay you got us all assigned. After that I fell asleep at her place."

"I see. So will you be joining us in town today?"

"Yes. I'd love to. But do you mind if I run back to the dorm and get changed first?"

"Certainly. I'll catch up with Maria and we'll wait for you at the monorail station."

"Sounds good. I'll hurry up and eat then."

* * *

It was a long, silent, and awkward monorail ride. Josephine sat beside Jennifer and McKenna sat beside Maria in the row behind them.

"You like to read?" asked Jennifer while looking into the book in Josephine's hand. "Is that book in French?"

Josephine nodded, "Yes. The Three Musketeers. I like to read Dumas in the original."

"That's interesting. So you like to read a lot I take it?"

"Yes I do. I've always loved to read. My grandmother encouraged me to read books from the time I first learned how to read."

"I wish I had the patience for that… I listen to audiobooks and podcasts sometimes to pass time on long flights and stuff. If that counts."

"It does. We all have our pastimes."

"You should probably pick up some books while we're out shopping. Someone once told me that the uglier you are the smarter you have to be," remarked Maria to Jennifer.

Jennifer turned around to glare at Maria with an angry scowl, "You've remarked on how attractive you find me on numerous occasions. But if what you say is true then you must be a fucking _**savant!**_ "

McKenna giggled at Jennifer while taking a picture of her angry face with her phone, "Oooh. Achievement unlocked; Nice Comeback! I think I have some burn cream in my purse here for poor Maria."

Josephine sighed in exasperation while flipping her page, "Ladies, please. Can we at least pretend to be civilized?"

Jennifer crossed her arms with an annoyed huff, "I knew I'd regret this…"

"Moving on… Why are you so excited about shopping Maria?" asked McKenna, "Aren't you broke?"

"I haven't been to a mall in years. What's not to be excited about?"

"Whatever, just don't try and con any of us into buying you anything. I'm telling you right now it isn't gonna happen."

"Seconded…" muttered Jennifer in support of the Canadian.

Maria lips curled into a smirk, "It's fine. Jennifer has to buy me some new sneakers. That was my request for beating her," she said with satisfaction.

"Don't push it!" yelled the Australian.

Maria slouched back in her seat and put her hands behind her head, "Meteor, activate music player, gimmie some Kings of Leon," she said and then closed her eyes with a serene smile as the music played in her ears.

Both Jennifer and McKenna widened their eyes at the small American.

"She actually programmed a music player into her IS?!" asked Jennifer incredulously.

McKenna narrowed her eyes at the holographic image next to Maria's ear which had an animated rhythm visualizer dancing around where it said 'Sound Only' on it. "It looks like it. Who let her do that?"

Josephine shook her head while flipping her page, "I don't believe Maria is the sort to ask for permission. She just does whatever she wants. It would be a rather admirable trait if she weren't generally so destructive in her peruits."

* * *

The first stop at the mall was the shoe store. Jennifer had wanted to get her humiliating defeat condition out of the way as quickly as possible. She waited somewhere off to the side of the store while Maria tried on various different pairs of sneakers which matched the color scheme she was after until she finally found a pair she felt were comfortable enough for her.

"It's gonna suck if my conversion matrix destroys these shoes as well… These are way more comfy than the ones the Air Force gave me. I'll take them!" she said happily.

Jennifer sighed in relief while walking over to the store worker and told him that the American had decided on that pair of shoes in Japanese. In response he quickly nodded and repacked the shoes once Maria had taken them off.

"Heh. That explains why he wasn't saying anything to me. Guess he doesn't speak English."

"Or he's smarter than he looks and he doesn't talk to you because he can sense evil!"

Maria busied herself by lacing up her brown leather boots again. "I'm sure that's probably it. The prey survive by learning to sense their predators."

"I find it incredibly dubious that the only pair you like also happen to be the most expensive…" said Jennifer with narrowed eyes.

"Maybe that'll teach you not to challenge me next time?"

"Next time I'm going to wipe the floor with you, and when I do, I promise you, I'm going to get my money's worth out of these shoes!"

Maria's lips curled up into a devilish smirk, "Challenge pre-accepted!"

Meanwhile McKenna was looking at a pair of Converse which were identical to the pair she was currently wearing, only her own were very old and faded. "I think I should buy some new ones while we're here."

"If you think you need them, then you should," encouraged Josephine.

"Why don't you get a pair? Then we can match!"

"Are they comfortable?"

"Think I'd have wore mine until they got into this state if they weren't?" she replied while pointing down to her worn out shoes.

"Point taken. Think they come in green?"

"They come in every color of the rainbow. Let's get Jen to tell the guy what we want."

"How much do they cost?"

"Twelve thousand Yen…" she muttered while pulling out her phone, "Or one-hundred and thirty six Canadian."

"What's that in Sterling?"

"Eighty five."

"Ooh. Bit pricey for me right now."

"How much do they pay you?"

"A thousand pounds a month."

"What expenses do you have right now?"

"I give eight hundred to my parents and keep two hundred for myself for spending money. I still need to buy some headphones and subscribe to my MMO. Star Wars is shite on free to play mode. Not to mention we said we'd stock up on food to cook, so I'll need to pitch into that."

"Damn. I guess your folks need the extra cash?"

"They each worked two jobs to keep us afloat. So if I can return the favor, even a little, I will."

"I see. Tell you what, do me this one favor, try on a pair. If you like them, I'll buy them for you."

"No McKenna. Please. I could never accept that."

"Consider it a gift. Or if you have to, just have my back if my cash ever gets really tight."

Josephine shook her head, "No. I really couldn't accept it. But thank you."

"Josephine. I'm getting two thousand five hundred a month, which is…" she checked her phone again, "Almost fifteen hundred sterling. I can buy you some shoes. Please accept it, it'll make me happy, and it'll make you happy."

"McKenna… Please. Really. I'm fine. It's not like I'm not going barefooted."

The Canadian shook her head with a disgruntled sigh, "Fine. Have it your way."

* * *

The four emerged from the store with Maria and McKenna each holding a shopping bag with their new footwear. The group then headed down towards their next destination.

Maria beamed a happy smile up at the Australian, "Thanks for the shoes Jen!"

Jennifer in turn narrowed her blue eyes at the short American, "Don't you dare thank me! I didn't spend that money out of the kindness of my heart!"

"Still. I'm thankful. You could have refused to pay that much and taken me somewhere cheaper, or insisted on one of the other pairs. But you didn't. So thank you. I'll do my best to make sure my IS doesn't eat them."

The Australian flipped her blonde and pink hair aside before turning furious eyes down on the little ravenette. "Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut."

"God that was so hot the way you threw your hair aside like that…"

"So where can we find a computer store around here?" asked McKenna before Jennifer could keep the spat going. "Josephine needs a headset for her laptop."

Jennifer turned her head away and looked at the Canadian. "Hmm… I think there's a Virgin Megastore on the third floor. They'll probably have what you need. Not really into that sort of thing myself. But it's worth a shot."

Josephine smiled over at the Australian, "Thank you. We might have been really lost without you. I guess it really is true that nobody speaks anything but Japanese around here."

"You'd be surprised actually. Quite a few people speak English. Like up at the Virgin store, you'll find plenty of bilingual workers. But that's usually only in the higher end stores. Go out on the town proper, you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who can speak any English,

Last year I was all the way out on the other side of the city, my friend's parents had just got divorced and so I went to spend some time at their restaurant to console her. Then it started getting late and I needed a cab to get me back to the monorail station in a hurry. This was before I could speak enough Japanese to save my life. I kept this piece of paper with the names of places I needed to be able to get to written on it, but I'd lost it. So I tried a hundred different ways to tell him where I wanted to go, I spent ten minutes playing charades with him and he was just sitting there and smiling at me like an idiot."

"That sucks. So what did you do?" asked McKenna.

"Well. Just when I was about to give up and use my IS to fly back and incur Miss Orimura's wrath, this school boy came by. He spoke enough English that he could figure out what was up and told the driver where I needed to go. Problem solved. Moral of the story, I'll write you all one of those papers I kept handy last year, don't lose them!"

"So what happened to your friend?" asked Maria.

"Huh?"

"The friend with parental issues. What happened to her?"

"She moved back to China to live with her uncle and now she's in the IS pre-training program there. I wanted to go visit her before school started. Since I've always wanted to see China. She was like a second little sister to me. But I couldn't leave my actual sister who needed all the help she could get until I absolutely had to..." she answered with a menacing glare on Maria.

Josephine snapped her fingers, "Oh, that reminds me. I meant to check with the school, but I'll just ask you now. Do you know if we're allowed to travel during the weekends? I was thinking about using the bullet trains to do some tourism."

"You can. But you need to check with Miss Orimura. There's some paperwork for that kind of thing you have to fill out. You need to let the school know where you're going, where you're staying, how to contact you, show them proof of reservations and train tickets… It's a really big hassle. If you want to do it, you have to _really_ want to do it."

"It's probably worth it. I really do want to see the sights."

"The school organizes trips every now and then. I don't know if they do the same things every year, but last year they took us to a beach before summer break and we got to stay at a traditional Japanese inn with amazing food, and then to the mountains before winter. It was great. We got to see this old temple and there were even hot springs and open air baths."

"Hot springs?"

"Oh you'll love the hot springs. You just can't visit Japan without visiting a hot spring. They're amazing!"

Josephine nodded, "I'll put that on the 'to do' list then. Any other recommendations?"

"Plenty. If you actually wanna do any of this, let me know, I'll arrange to come along with you. You'll have to have someone who speaks Japanese with you or you'll be in trouble."

"How long did it take you to learn?" asked Maria.

"My whole first year. But I didn't put any real effort into it. I sort of just picked it up by just being alive. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah. I'll pick it up in a month or so. By the way, is there a book store around here? I wanna get something to help me get literate in Japanese."

"How will you pay for it?" asked McKenna. "You have no money."

"Oh… Yeah… Good point…"

Jennifer shook her head, "I have a book on the Kanji. I'll lend it to you. Wait… Why am I being nice to you all of a sudden? Fuck you!"

"Because I'm like moss, I grow on you, and you're starting to like me," answered Maria with a wink of her crimson eye.

"In your dreams bitch!"

"Ladies… Please… Let's not start this again. We were just starting to get along for a change. Speaking of books, is there a bookstore here?"

"The Virgin Megastore also has a huge section with tons of books. Knock yourself out."

"Running out of reading material?" asked McKenna.

"Mhmm. I only brought three books with me. The Three Musketeers, Guerra de Guerrillas, and The Jungle Book."

"Not gonna ask about that last one. But you also have Macbeth now."

"True. But I still want something to read for myself."

"Planning to get us into more trouble in class?" asked Maria with a playful tone.

"Please don't… We've got enough problems as it is…" muttered the Canadian.

Josephine's lips curled into a sweet smile and then she spoke with a matching tone, "A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge."

"And I need more homework like a brain needs a bullet," was the Canadian's off the cuff retort.

Jennifer put out her hand to McKenna, "Achievement unlocked; Witty Retort!"

"You catch on quick," she said with a sly grin while giving her five.

* * *

A short while later, Josephine had found herself a headset in the store, and then found herself in a veritable paradise of books. Books from all over the world stocked two floors worth of shelves in the book section. The only sad part about this heaven on earth she found was the fact that she was the only person browsing the selections. But then again, it was still relatively early in the day, hopefully a section this large meant they had a lot of demand in general.

It would be difficult to choose what to buy. Were it up to her, she'd just bring in a mattress and live here.

Her companions had all wandered off to find something to entertain themselves with while she shopped. She couldn't blame them. Jennifer went to a coffee shop near the store, Maria went into the music section, McKenna went off to the gaming section, and Josephine had come to paradise.

"Excusez-moi, vous-avez des livres en français?" she heard someone ask a store worker.

Josephine turned a curious eye to the French speaker and the store worker looking at her blankly. She looked to be about the same age, with a fair complexion and long red hair.

She then picked up a random book from a display next to her, and repeated her question while pointing at the book, " **Livres,** " she said with great emphasis, " _ **en**_ _**français.**_ "

"Ahhh. One moment," he answered while holding up one finger and then went over to a computer.

Josephine turned her attention back to the display stand she was next to and picked up one of the latest novels, she read the jacket out of curiosity to see if it was worth her time at all.

"Imbécile! Tu es très incompétent!"

Josephine picked up her head and looked on with a raised eyebrow. The store worker was standing in front of the red haired girl with a book for French learners and a stupid smile on his face as he took the abuse she hurled at him.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I don't speak French," he said to her.

"You probably don't want to know what she's saying to you," she interjected. "But it's not like you didn't earn her ire. I mean, did you honestly just fetch her a book for French learners?"

"It's all we have in French… There's no need to be angry."

"Then you really are an imbecile," remarked Josephine with a frustrated sigh, "Put yourself in her place, you walk into a bookshop in another country and struggle to ask if they have anything written in Japanese, and then someone brings you a Japanese learner's book. Wouldn't you feel offended?"

"You're right… I'm very sorry," he said while bowing deeply to the red haired girl. He then quickly made himself scarce.

"You speak my language," the girl said to Josephine, in French. "Your accent, you're English. I'm surprised."

"Oui. I had to learn French in school for as long as I can remember. Are you from France?"

"Non. My father is Emirati and my mother is Moroccan. But I can't speak English, or Japanese. So, it's been difficult to get around. School is even harder because of it, I have to take intensive Japanese lessons from someone I have no common language with… It's very frustrating."

"May I ask what brings you to Japan?"

"My father's work. Naturally, we all had to come with him. Whether we wanted to or not."

"Then all I can say is welcome," she said while offering out her hand to the other girl, "My name is Josephine Williams."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Aisha Amiri."

"So you're trying to find something to read that's in French?"

"Oui. But, naturally, they don't have anything. The more time I spend in front of the TV with my mother, the dumber I can feel myself becoming."

"I know _**exactly**_ how you feel. But with such a selection, I'm amazed they don't have anything written in French."

"C'est la vie," she said with resignation.

She held up a finger to ask her to wait a moment before pulling out the book she had with her. "I don't know if you're interested in the classics, but I have The Three Musketeers here, in the original French. You can have this if you want to read it."

Aisha took the offered book into her hands and examined it with a curious eye. "This is an antique book? You can't just give this to me..."

"Yes I can. Books are made to be read, not to sit on shelves and be looked at. Which is where that book will end up unless you want to read it."

"I do want to, but, this is in good condition, and probably very valuable."

"Do you want to read it or not?"

"I do… But only if you'll allow me to return it once I've finished it."

"Certainly. It's always nice to make new friends. Perhaps we can get together again sometime and talk literature?"

"I'd be happy too!" she answered joyfully while pulling out her phone. "I don't have any friends here yet. I just arrived two months ago."

"I only got here last week, so you're probably ahead of me on a lot of things," she replied while they touched their phones together to exchange contact information. "I'm here with some schoolmates, one of whom is Canadian, and speaks French as well. Perhaps you'd like to join us? We're just looking around, doing some light shopping, and getting familiar with the entertainments available around here."

"On any other day, I would be happy to. But sadly, I don't have a lot of time, my parents and brother are waiting for me."

"I see. Another time then. Perhaps next weekend?"

"You don't go out during the week?"

"It's not that. I would if I could. But my school doesn't allow us to leave the campus except on weekends."

"Which school is that?"

"The IS Academy."

"Oh. You're an IS pilot?"

"Yes I am. For almost a full year now."

"Tres bien! My father's work is with the IS. As for myself, I just started going to Raizen High School, which is on the other side of the city. Oh… I should go now, my family might get upset that I'm making them wait so long. I'll stay in touch, and I'll try to get through this book quickly and return it to you when next we meet."

"Don't rush. Take your time and enjoy it," answered a smiling Josephine.

* * *

McKenna widened her eyes at the story Josephine had told them, "So the guy seriously brought her a book for French beginners?"

"Sounds like something I'd do if I was working there and someone was pissing me off," remarked Maria.

"If you were the one working there, I'd believe that was the motivation. But in general, I find that one should never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence."

"I'm really starting to love all your quotable quotes Josie!" exclaimed a happy Maria.

"How many times do I have to tell you my name is- You know what? I don't care anymore…"

"Finally! I knew you'd relent eventually! Josie is so much cuter!"

"I hate to agree with the little troll on anything, but Josie does suit you," added Jennifer.

"Wait until _**you**_ get a nickname from her. We'll see how much you care for it."

"I already got one for her. Easy. Tazzy."

Jennifer widened her eyes at the little american, "Tazzy?! How do you get that from Jennifer? Jen I understand. My parents call me Jenny. But Tazzy?!"

"Tasmanian Devil. That's what they call you right? The cartoon was named Taz. So I'll call you Tazzy for cuteness!"

Jennifer palmed her face. "You were right. I don't care for her giving out nicknames…"

"Told you so."

"So where to now?" asked McKenna. "Everyone got everything they needed from here?"

Josephine nodded, "Yes. But we still need to buy food for our dorm room."

"Speaking of food. That Italian guy invited us for lunch. So we should probably head there to eat. It's getting close to a decent lunch hour, and I really wouldn't mind more of his Pizza. That shit was totally yummy!"

"Gonna make us buy you lunch now? Forget it Maria. It's not happening," chided McKenna.

"Don't be like that Kenny! He invited us, it means he's buying."

"I can't help but wonder what kind of ulterior motive a man could have to want to be friendly with someone like you…" muttered Jennifer.

"Don't worry, if he needs people killed, I'll happily kill 'em all for more of his pizza! It's just that good! Try it, and you'll agree!"

"I have to admit…" started McKenna while Jennifer scoffed. "That Pizza really was some of the best I've ever had."

"Then it's settled! Pizza it is!"

* * *

It wasn't a long walk from the mall to what was known by the locals in the city as "Gaijin Street" where all the foreigners congregated. It was a street lined with small shops, restaurants, and cafes. As Josephine looked around, it was easy to tell what caught Maria's attention, even from the air. This was a busy street, and at night, it probably looked very appealing to investigate. Though she had this strange image of Maria walking around in her piloting suit, and without any shoes. It took a great deal of effort for her not to break into laughter as she pictured it.

Though she failed to keep the amused smile off her face and Jennifer was quick to notice it. "Whatever you're thinking about must be good."

"Maria discovered this place because she used her IS to fly here one night. I just had this mental image of her walking around in her piloting suit with no shoes…" she said and then started cracking into boisterous laughter.

Maria rolled her eyes at the two blondes who were now both in a laughing fit. "If it'll help you stop laughing, that was actually one of the few times my quantum conversion didn't destroy my shoes."

"Too late shorty. I've already got that image burned into my eyelids. Everytime I close my eyes I'll picture you being grossed out by walking barefooted on this street!" said Jennifer laughingly.

"We're here!" exclaimed Maria while pointing out the restaurant. "Oh and there he is!"

Maria ran out ahead towards a man in a black suit smoking a cigarette beside the establishment. He had dark brown hair with an olive colored complexion. His short hair was messy and unkempt. By the look of him, he didn't seem approachable at all. Like he had a dark storm cloud hanging over him. The look on his face clearly said he'd kill the next person to bother him. Only Maria could happily run towards someone like that and be excited to see them.

"Lorenzo! Ciao!"

"Maria! Come stai?" he answered back with a suddenly seeming very cheerful. A complete 180 from how he looked before he saw Maria.

As she approached, Josephine was lost as Maria spoke Italian to the older man.

"Maria has a friend? I bet he's a pervy lolicon. That's that only explanation..." remarked Jennifer.

"He apparently gave her pizza for all of us. We should probably thank him for that McKenna," suggested Josephine while ignoring Jennifer's theory.

"Way ahead of you," answered the Canadian as they approached the pair.

"Ahhh. Lorenzo, questi sono e miei amici. Josephine, McKenna, e Jennifer."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes at the little american, "I'm not your friend! Don't include me in your social circle!"

"Haha! You all enjoy the pizza I send you yes?" asked the man with a thick italian accent and happy voice in spite of Jennifer's minor outburst.

"Oh yes. We very much enjoyed it," answered Josephine.

"Best damn pizza I've ever had," added McKenna.

"Bellissimo! So Maria. You look very nice. Much better than before."

"Beh, that's because I'm wearing actual clothes this time," she answered in Italian before following up with a question, "You invited me to bring my friends to eat here before? That invitation still open?"

"Yes of course! Come inside. Eat what you want. On the house!"

"He speaks English. You know it's rude to speak a language nobody else around you speaks…" remarked Jennifer.

McKenna raised an eyebrow at the Australian, "You're going to talk to Maria about manners?"

"Good point…"

"Your friend is right Maria," he said while wagging his finger at her.

"Yes sir. It's just that I don't get to speak Italian with anyone. I take any chance I can get to stay in practice," answered Maria in a shameful voice.

Josephine, McKenna, and Jennifer all jaw dropped at Maria's sudden turn into submissiveness.

"That is good," said the man, "But still, don't be rude to your friends. Oh, and speaking of being rude. My name is Lorenzo. Lorenzo Bianchi. This is my restaurant."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Josephine Williams."

"Jennifer Hawkins."

"McKenna Tremblay. Nice to meet you too."

"Nice to meet all of you. Now come in, everyone, come and eat proper food."

Jennifer slowly nodded her head, "Yes. I think we'll be very, very happy to accept. Just to see more of you putting Maria in her place…"

Josephine held Jennifer back for a moment as Maria, McKenna and the Italian man walked into the restaurant. "Don't be too happy about what you just saw. In my limited experience, I can tell you that the only thing that can keep a predator in line is a stronger predator."

"I sensed that too. So yes. Point taken…"

* * *

"Uuuugh, I shouldn't have had those seconds… Now I'm gonna have a food baby…" complemented Jennifer while slouching in her chair and and then started patting her bloated belly.

"Your cooking is amazing. I don't think I could eat out anywhere else now," added Josephine after she shoved her plate forward and then slouched in her seat as well with a contented sigh.

Maria smiled up at the italian man, "Complimenti, è buonissimo!"

"Grazie mille," he answered with a bright smile, "May I offer espresso, or digestives?"

Josephine widened her eyes up at the man, "You do know we're all underage right?"

"What? Are you going to call the police? You're in Japan. Nobody here has a shit to give. Not the police, not the patrons, not nobody. And also you're an English girl, she's Australian, and the other one is a fucking Canadian. You want to tell me none of you drink?" he then snapped his fingers at one of the waitresses, "Chiyomi-chan, bring me the Limoncello and glasses for everyone."

"Omae wa noutarin ka?! Watashi ni sore o yobanaide kudasai!" she yelled back at him, but did seem to go off and do as she was told.

The Italian man simply waved his hand dismissively at her.

"I've actually never had alcohol before…" muttered Maria.

"Yes, you are an American, your stupid fucking country sends children to die in war in the fucking deserts but will not let them have one beer. But it is also good because your first drink will be a good one, not that piss they serve in your fucking country. I bring my Limoncello straight from Italy. Nobody else in this fucking country has it. I promise you that."

"I see why Maria likes him so much now…" muttered Jennifer.

"May I ask why I'm the 'fucking Canadian'?"

"Because you were the last on the list," he answered while sitting down at the table.

"What did the waitress say? She sounded upset," asked Josephine.

"I don't know, I don't speak enough Japanese to understand her when she talks like a machine gun," answered the man with indifference.

"She told you to stop calling her that. Saying 'chan' is considered rude with people you're not _**very**_ close with," explained Jennifer. "So yeah. They get pissed when you do that."

"If she doesn't like it, she'd quit," remarked Maria.

Lorenzo slapped his palm to the table excitedly, "Exactly!"

"Oh great. First he's making her more polite, and now he's encouraging her… Not a good sign," remarked McKenna with frustration.

Maria waved off the comment as the waitress brought out and served the Liqueur to each of the four girls and her boss.

"Saluti," he said with his glass raised.

"Saluti," added Maria.

"Cheers," was Josephine, McKenna, and Jennifer's toasts.

"Mmm… Not bad at all," remarked Josephine after sipping from the shot glass.

McKenna quickly nodded, "Yeah… It really isn't. The only alcohol I've ever had to drink before this was champagne. My parents gave me some to celebrate becoming a Representative Contender."

Jennifer simply shrugged her shoulders and downed the glass in one go after her initial sip. "Little too sweet for my liking. But I guess it's alright."

"Umm. Sorry everyone, I'm gonna speak Italian to him again…" started Maria before turning to fully face the man. "Lorenzo, mi dispiace chiederti di te, ma forse hai qualche lavoro per me?"

Josephine eyed and listened to Maria carefully as she spoke with a shameful tone of voice to the older man. The two seemed to be having a very serious conversation which she only managed to pick a few words which sounded similar to French and English.

"Not a problem Maria. Come start tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. I teach you everything you need to know."

"Grazie mille. You won't regret this."

McKenna looked between the Italian and American with a confused expression, "Someone mind filling us in here?"

"Do any of you also want a job? I just hired her. More pretty girls working here is good for business."

Jennifer let out a hearty laugh at that notion, "Not a chance. Maria is going to drive away all your customers… I'm almost tempted to say yes, just to watch her do it."

"Now now Jennifer. No need to be such a pessimist. Maria's obviously thinking about her lack of money. I don't think she'll do anything to ruin this for herself."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Josie! I won't let him down."

"Che cazzo?!" yelled Lorenzo as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, he answered the call and then yelled into his phone without putting it into his ear, " **Vaffanculo! Puttana!** Ho bisogno della tua merda come dovrei essere scopata nel culo!" and then hung up the phone and calmly put it back in his pocket.

Whatever he said, was enough to make even Maria blush in embarrassment.

"Was there a problem?" asked Josephine.

"There are many problems! This one was from my ex-wife. She call me _**everyday**_ to nag. This is why I leave Italy. I catch her fucking another man and I throw her out. Then I go to the court for a divorce and the judge say I have to pay her support! What the fuck is a dis shit? So I leave Italy and I tell her to continue to prostitute herself if she want a money! I need this shit like I need a donkey to fuck me in the ass!"

Josephine slowly shook her head, "How colorful… Might I trouble you for a double espresso?"

"Ah. Of course. I also bring the coffee direct from Italy. You will enjoy it very much. Chiyomi-chan! Bring espresso for everyone!"

" **BAKA!** Say Chiyomi- _ **san!**_ **Not** _ **chan!**_ " she yelled back before vanishing into the kitchen.

"She's actually really cute when she's pissed off," remarked Maria with a devious grin.

"Sì, è molto carina!" laughed Lorenzo.

"Aaaaanyway… that reminds me," started Jennifer as she wrote on some papers she got from her purse. "I'm writing you each one of these handy 'places to be' papers that you can show to taxi drivers to get you where you need to be," she explained while handing one to Josephine. "Each one has important places for you written in kanji, and under it is what it means in English. Don't lose them!" she said before handing one more off to McKenna.

"Tazzy? Do I get one too?" asked Maria in the sweetest and most innocent voice she could muster.

"...only because I'm better than you," she mumbled while writing the third paper.

* * *

The four were back on the monorail headed for the academy as the sun was beginning to set. Despite being filled to capacity with students and faculty returning from their day out, the train ride was peacefully silent. Josephine was sitting next to Maria this time, with Jennifer and McKenna sitting in the seats on their left side. The raven-haired american had the tell-tale 'Sound Only' holograms next to her ears and couldn't be disturbed by anything if the look on her face was any indication.

Josephine then looked down at her phone after it gave her a gentle buzz and read the text message she received.

" _Started reading the book. Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it,"_ said the message in French.

With a small smile on her lips, Josephine started typing her response " _I hope you enjoy it."_

* * *

Josephine and McKenna worked to put away their groceries while Maria sat down on the floor with her back to Josephine's bed and watched the TV, from the sound, she could tell the American was watching anime again. One quick glance to see Maria gushing over something cute confirmed it.

"She could at least offer to help us…" muttered McKenna while stocking the fridge and trying to figure out how and where to make everything fit while Josephine stocked the cabinets.

"I'd really rather she just stay out of the way. She didn't even know what most of these items were. If she wasn't such a germaphobe, I'd assume she's been living in a jungle somewhere until now."

"I hate that she's the topic of almost all of our conversations. I literally still know nothing about you because all we ever talk about is what a bitch she is, and just when we get over the last astoundingly stupid thing she said, we get hit with the next amazing bombshell to highlight the depth of her callousness."

Josephine paused while putting away a can of beans. "You're right. You're absolutely right… I didn't even realize that was happening."

"I don't really care all that much. But it's worth thinking about. That girl is like poison."

"May I ask why you bought all that sausage and chicken bits?"

"Ahh. I'm gonna make Jambalaya for us tomorrow night!"

"What's Jambalaya?"

"You'll love it. Trust me!"

"Well. I do like trying new things. So I'm all for giving you the first turn to cook," replied a smiling Josephine.

* * *

Josephine sat at the desk with her laptop, her new headset connected to it as she flew a small fighter through an asteroid field with a happy smile on her face.

"I'm headed to A, just keep holding B," she said to her teammates.

"What're you playing?" asked Maria while looking over her shoulder. "Looks fun."

"Star Wars the Old Republic."

"Star Wars huh? I only saw the movies. So like, what're you trying to do in this game?"

"Well, in this game mode there are three of these satellite things we have to capture and defend. The longer we hold them the more points we get. To win we have to hold at least two of them, which we currently have, but we can only queue up for a game in a team of four players, and the rest of our team are a bunch of random wankers who don't even really care about winning, so it makes it hard for the four of us to hold onto the objectives by ourselves."

"That sucks."

"What sucks even more is that the enemy team are stacking bombers, which means our team will have almost zero chance at retaking this satellite…. Oh sorry, I'm talking to my roommate. Looks like A is a lost cause, move over to C, also one of you guys should switch to an Ion Gunship before they move their bombers to B."

"Gonna watch some anime. Enjoy your game."

"Would you like to give this a try after I'm finished here? It's not difficult to learn."

Maria went sat down on the floor with her back to Josephine's bed and turned the TV on while McKenna slept in the top bunk, "No thanks, don't really want to get back into gaming."

"Why's that?"

"Well, I had an X-Box for a while, but then all the new games started requiring an internet connection, and because I didn't have one on the base I lived at, I couldn't play anything anymore, then the old games I had got boring, and that was that."

"Ahh. I feel for you. You must have been bored."

"Not really. I still had my music, my training, my schooling. I had plenty to keep me busy. Staying busy was important. When I'm not busy, I think. When I think… Well, we don't want me thinking."

Her first instinct was to say something snarky to express her agreement with that statement, but stopped herself and considered the information for what it was, a noteworthy insight into who Maria Cross might really be under her abrasive personality. She turned back to her game and filed that away for later.

"If you change your mind about trying the game, I'll be up for a while longer."

McKenna audibly grumbled while turning over in her bed and then yelled at her two roommates, "Could you both please keep it down? I'm trying to sleep!"

"Or. Sorry dear! Sorry boys, I'm going to switch off Discord, my roommate's trying to sleep."

* * *

The next morning, a sleepy looking Josephine and Maria waited with a well rested and properly refreshed Jennifer Hawkins at the monorail station for a ride into the city.

"Damn it Josephine. How do you manage to make anything you wear look so damn good?" muttered Jennifer while eyeing over her English friend.

She was wearing black flower print leggings with a white skirt and a short faux denim jacket while Jennifer was elegantly dressed in a long sleeved light gray top with a long skirt going well below her knees featuring an arrow shaped pattern.

"When you're broke all the time and have limited options, you have to get more creative with your wardrobe. At least that's my experience. But you really don't look bad yourself. I have to say I really rather like your skirt. Might I ask where you're off to?" she asked the Australian.

Jennifer shook her head in disbelief, "Flatterer…"

Maria looked over both her companions with a sly grin on her lips, "I gotta say you both look pretty fucking spectacularly alluring!"

"I'm going to Church," she answered plainly. "Alluring is not at all what I was going for..."

"Good for you…" muttered Maria.

"Nothing snarky to say about that?"

"Naa," she said while reaching into her bag, "Want an apple?"

"Umm… Alright? Thank you, I think?" she said while putting her hand out, but Maria didn't let it go when she tried to accept it. "What are you doing?"

"Just making a point," she said before releasing it into Jennifer's grasp. She then reached into her bag and pulled out another shiny red apple. "I don't even like apples. I hate the taste. But I still eat them. Wanna know why?"

"I'm guessing it isn't for the vitamin content?" asked Jennifer before taking a bite.

"Because for one of these fucking disgusting fruits, god fucked over the whole of humanity. Now if you wanna go pray to someone who severely punished you and your whole gender because Eve had the audacity to eat one of these. Who am I stop you?"

"That's such a shallow interpretation of that story. It doesn't even actually say the fruit of knowledge was an apple. So your logic is deeply flawed. But then again, nobody expects better of you."

"Stop it both of you! It's far too pleasant a day for a holy war! By the way, where did you get the apples from? I always see you munching on them and I noticed a whole bunch in our room this morning. I also don't remember ever buying any."

"Oh. I got them from the cafeteria," she answered with her mouth full.

"You mean you stole them... They don't give away that many," remarked Jennifer while staring down at her apple.

"Some might call it stealing, but I just call it humanitarian aid. Gotta eat something since the food is so disgusting I could end up looking like a starving african girl," she answered casually before taking another bite out of her apple.

Jennifer threw her apple into a nearby trash bin and shook her head. "I didn't think it was possible, but I hate you even more now then I did before."

"I always try to aspire to new heights," replied Maria with an innocent smile.

"So Josephine… Where are you going?" asked Jennifer while pointedly ignoring the little American.

"Just out to explore a bit. Find a park, read a little. That sort of thing."

"Want directions to the park?"

Josephine shook her head while pulling her phone out of her pocket, "Google Maps. I'll be fine."

"Heh. Yeah. You gotta wonder what people did before Google and Hair Straighteners."

"Clearly people were always lost and had bad hair," answered Josephine with a silly grin while also running a hand through her long straight golden hair.

Maria picked up some of her hair and looked at it while Jennifer showed off her long straight gradient blonde and pink hair by running her hand through it.

"Hair straighteners huh? How does that work?"

Both girls looked with wide eyes.

"You gotta be kidding…" mumbled Jennifer.

* * *

Josephine sat on a park bench and smiled wondrously at the sights. She found herself surrounded by cherry blossoms. The entire landscape was covered in their pink petals. She couldn't help but snap a few pictures on her phone and send the pictures off to her parents with the caption 'Look where I am!'

After putting away her phone she reached into her bag and took out an old hardcover book. It was blue with gold pictures of people and elephants embossed upon its cover, she gently set it down on her lap and then opened to the first page to start reading.

Before she knew it, she was on page thirty when she was pulled out of the Jungle Book and back into the real world by the sound of a young man yelping in pain. When she got up and looked behind her she saw a teenage girl with long brown hair and an olive skin complexion standing in front of a teenage boy who had his hands up defensively in front of her. He was repeating 'gomen' to her over and over but she ignored his apologies and used one arm to grab his and pull him in so she could knee him in the groin and then punched him in the face so hard he hit the floor.

"Hey! Was that necessary?" asked Josephine while walking up to the scene. "Whatever it was, he was clearly trying to apologize to you."

The other girl looked straight into her blue eyes with a furious expression, "For all you know he grabbed my ass!"

Josephine looked down at the rather pathetic sight of the scrawny looking boy laying on the floor with a terrified look on his face and instantly found that argument to be absurd.

"I'll grant you that I didn't see what happened before, but, looking at him, I doubt he did much more than maybe try to ask you for directions, or at the very worst, tried to flirt with you."

She reached out her hand to help the boy up, which he timidly accepted and allowed himself to be pulled up by her. After what she assumed were words of gratitude he made himself scarce as quickly as he possibly could. That was when Josephine turned to look at the other girl and snapped her fingers as a light bulb switched on in her mind.

"I know you. You sit next to Maria in our class."

"I'm sure the story of how you sided with a boy who sexually harassed me will make you many new friends in the academy," she replied while crossing her arms aggressively.

"Do you actually know what he was saying to you?" she asked with exasperation.

"Do you? As you said yourself, you didn't see what happened before."

Josephine sighed and shook her head disappointedly, "I see. So this is how you operate? Very well. Do what you like. I of course can't prove that you beat up on that boy for the crime of thinking you're pretty anymore than you can prove he was sexually harassing you. But I'm willing to wager that you're winning in the popularity contest in our class and so-"

"Damn right I am," she spat.

"Indeed. So, by virtue of your popularity, people will probably believe whatever you say. So by all means, go ahead. I won't stop you."

"You can't stop me," she smugly remarked.

"Oh yes I could. But as I said, I won't. I've better things to do. Do have a pleasant day Miss… Arad was it?"

"If you don't know my name by now, I'm sure you will soon enough."

"I'm certain I'll care even less by then than I do now…" she muttered while walking away from the Israeli.

* * *

Back at the IS Academy, McKenna and Mayuzumi sat together in the the school library, Mayuzumi flipped through her textbook in search of a relevant bit of information while McKenna tapped away at her smartphone.

"Are you going to help me find the answer to this? If he hasn't answered by now, I don't think he will."

In response the Canadian showed her companion the phone's screen. "While you were flipping pages and reading line by line for your answer, I just found it on Wikipedia. You're welcome."

Mayuzumi rolled her eyes, "Why do we even have textbooks in this day and age?" she wondered while writing down the answer to her homework question.

"That's a good question. Probably because people like Josephine still outnumber people like me who just use our phones for everything."

Mayuzumi pulled her phone out of her bag and set it down on the table before closing up her textbook. "Yeah. The book really is a waste of time, and paper."

"I agree. Paper books should go the way of the dinosaur. But unfortunately enough people still want to have something physical in their hands. Hell, I even managed to get Macbeth on my phone for free."

"Free… Yeah. Books are pointless now. Anyway. I'm almost done with this, what's the next assignment?"

McKenna swiped through her phone to another app, "Umm, just the math homework. Naturally it's what I suck at."

"Don't worry, that'll be my turn to help you for a change… Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Umm… Yeah? What's on your mind?"

"You're not an idiot, and-"

"Geee, thanks!"

"Sorry. Bad way to put it. But just let me finish…"

"Alright."

"You don't seem to me like someone who's a pushover. You even managed to go toe to toe with Miss Orimura."

"I got my ass handed to me…"

"Yeah. But nobody else I can think of besides maybe the Student Council President could have lasted that long against her. You probably actually could have won if you'd been more experienced. But look, my question is this. Why do you put up with Maria and Josephine?"

"I don't put up with them… Josephine is actually really nice. Maria on the other hand is a total bitch, but I don't think that's all there is to her. At least I hope it isn't. End of the day, I have to live with them. So I have to get along with them."

"I think I told you that you could ask for another room if you want it."

"Yeah. But I don't. You're probably wondering why that is, and to tell you the truth, it's because for all the trouble they make... they're interesting."

"And without interesting people in our lives, life would just be boring!" exclaimed Tatenashi as she took a seat at their table.

McKenna instantly palmed her face, "You do realize this is a library right? Keep your voice down…"

"Why? I'm making your life interesting."

"No. You're embarrassing me!"

"But I'm not boring you."

"If you have a point to make, I wish you could just be direct about it instead of playing games…"

"I think she's saying that you obviously like it when the people around you behave strangely because you care more about not being bored than you do about how you'll be perceived," explained Mayuzumi.

"Ahh. See! She gets it!"

McKenna grit her teeth and let out a low growl, "Tatenashi…"

"That's my name!"

"Why are you here?"

"Oh yeah. So you probably know how the first tournament is coming up?"

"A tournament with no real prizes but plenty of headaches…"

"Yeah. That one. Well, it's a big deal because it opens the competitive side of the academy. So yeah. I wanna try and have my IS ready for it."

"You don't have a snowball's chance in hell of that…"

"Don't be such a pessimist! So anyway. I was wondering when you'd have time to help me with the metallurgy? You said you'd do that."

"Can it wait until we've finished our homework?"

"Only if I can help you finish faster!"

"Only if you promise to keep your damn voice down..."

"Anything for you," answered Tatenashi with a lower voice. "Alright. So. Math homework? Let's do it. Oh sorry. Who's your friend?"

"Mayuzumi Kaoruko," answered the bespectacled girl.

"Sarashiki Tatenashi," she introduced herself formally. "Pleased to meet you. So let's get started on your homework! I need to borrow McKenna!"

Mayuzumi sighed and shook her head, "Yeah… I got that."

* * *

McKenna grumbled in frustration while waiting for her laptop to compute the data she put into the program. She, Tatenashi, and Mayuzumi were in her dorm room sitting around the dinner table.

"Sorry about this. Maybe I should have booted up one of the desktops to run this program."

Mayuzumi shook her head, "Don't bother with the desktops, they're only good for basic web browsing and using the Academy intranet. You can literally get better performance out of your smartphone."

"That's the truth. They have 4k displays, but can't play 4k video without stuttering like a nervous boy on his first date," added Tatenashi.

Mayuzumi scoffed, "It figures they'd spare no expense on irrelevant things and nothing left for the things that matter."

"Guess they don't want the students gaming on them or anything. But why put in the TVs if they don't want you being entertained in your dorm rooms?" asked McKenna.

Tatenashi snickered at that, "Decent computers cost more than basic cable service these days thanks to all the people gobbling up PC hardware to mine cryptocurrency. My sister actually made a small fortune trading that stuff so she could buy anime blu-rays. She's such a little genius, I love her to bits!"

"Aren't the 8k TVs more expensive than decent desktop computers?"

"Sure. But two, or three computers to a room? That'll add up to more than the TVs cost. They also probably got a nice bulk discount from the manufacturer on the cheap shit."

"Never complain about the TVs! Once you plug in a PS 5 and enjoy Cyberpunk on these glorious panels, there's no going back!"

"Ahh shit… Play Stations… I forgot that shit wins here in Japan over X-Box. Should have brought mine with me."

Tatenashi started playfully poking McKenna in the side, "Just get a PS 5 here? You know you wanna convert!"

"Your attempts at a double entendre aside… Do they even sell games in English here?"

"Never looked. But I'm sure you can get them off the online store," explained Mayuzumi.

"Arrrgh, too much effort. I'll just ask my parents to ship over my X-Box. It'll cost less and have better games!"

"Better games? Bitch please! Everything worth playing is available on both, and in terms of exclusives, not even Halo is exclusive to the X-Box anymore! At this point you're just brainwashed into brand loyalty!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

McKenna sighed in irritation, "Do I need to point out how that statement goes both ways?"

"I always go both ways."

Before she could retort, the computer beeped that the program was finished, "Thank fuck. It's finally done," McKenna announced with relief. "So... According to this, for your build to work, you'll need to construct the main body of the legs with composite materials. Ceramics sandwiched between layers of metal. They'll be bonded to a backing plate and several elastic layers on a sliding plate assisted with internal hydraulic pistons to let it move when bending the legs. The knee area will be a solid piece of titanium to allow for combat maneuvers like kneeing people with a sharp point. The feet will be made from three sections interlocking together to allow for it to move into position for landing and fighting."

Mayuzumi pulled out some blank paper and started using her pencil to sketch, "That's a good start. But why don't you try carbon instead of ceramics? It'll keep the cost down and achieve the same result."

"I already considered it. Carbon is a good material in general, but we're not building a racing car. It won't have anywhere near the same level of impact resistance. You see, they say Canadians are behind in IS development, but that isn't technically true. Yes we joined in at the late second generation, but we weren't idle for all that time. We chose to focus on materials engineering. Which is how I have this handy software."

"And you're sharing that knowledge with me?" asked a wide eyed Tatenashi.

"All our research and development is public record now. I imagine you'll start seeing a slew of IS frames using Canadian material technology in the next couple years."

Mayuzumi nodded, "Alright. But I think you should consider the number of moving parts. In general, IS development seeks to reduce them, not increase them. If we use slotted designs in the sliding plates, we can minimize the number of hydraulics."

McKenna nodded, "That's a good thought. Can you actually design something like that?"

"Already sketching it out. Leg assemblies are easy though. For all intents and purposes, they're not much more complicated than stilts. Gyroscopically stable stilts... The hard part will be how to configure the rest."

Tatenashi put a hand on her chin, "Wow, you're both so incredibly useful! I've already thought about the overall look of the frame and have some sketches of my own."

Mayuzumi held out her hand to the bluenette, "Let's see them, before I get too far with this."

"I like the idea of weaponizing the knees though. Think you can draw in something like what McKenna said? Something sharp, but also elegant?"

"Very fairy like isn't it?" remarked Mayuzumi while looking over Tatenashi's drawings. "Yes. I can. Not a problem."

McKenna stood up and looked at the drawing together with Mayuzumi before adding her two cents. "Might want to get away from the more organic looking design. We can still retain the spirit of what you're going for, but if you want to have room in this for the tech you mentioned earlier, we're going to have to make it all a bit thicker, and a little more industrial looking. We can both retain the design language and have it be functional if we give it some sharp angles that will keep the weight down and let us use the tougher materials."

"I suppose that's a fair point. Since I want to try and omit the typical backpack design for the core and equalizer slots."

"You're not going to have any equalizer slots in this. Everything's gonna have to be built into it. I'm telling you right now, expansion slots are the first thing we're throwing out the window to achieve this."

"Awww, that sucks…"

"Can't have your cake and eat it too. So think about what you absolutely can't fight without. Because you're not getting anything but that," explained a stern McKenna.

"See why I wanted to combine a sword with a gun?"

"Yeah… Speaking of that. I managed to make a few drawings of what I think the ideal machine gun and lance combination might look like. But now that I understand this water tech you're working with… I think the lance is definitely the way to go, I just need to modify the design a bit with this in mind."

"My very own magic lance!"

"I wouldn't go that far… Better get some coffee going, we're gonna be here for a while."

Mayuzumi looked up at McKenna with a serious glare, "Is Cross coming home soon?"

The Canadian shook her head, "Naaa, she just started a job in the city. She'll be out for a good long while."

"That's good. Then we can get this done. Umm… provided you don't mind my help as well?"

"Did anyone hear me complaining? There's no way I could ever get this all done by myself. I never would have considered sliding panels or multiple material types. I never would have thought of combining a machine gun and a lance, or using sharp angles to maximize space and construction strength."

"May I ask why you even want to do it this way? Assembling your own IS isn't exactly like building with legos," asked McKenna while walking to the kitchen.

"Because it's more fun this way! And also…"

"Also what? Come on, if we're gonna help you, don't hold out on us!"

"Because I can, and because nobody thinks I can. You know? It sounds arrogant. But I want to do it because I can. Make it my own. Make it something memorable to do with my friends. You know?"

"That's more than good enough for me."

"And for me," added Mayuzumi.

"My sister and I also grew up building Gunpla, so this is like, next level stuff for me! Real life Gundam Build Fighters!"

Mauzumi face planted into the table while McKenna smacked her palm into her face.

* * *

It was nearing sunset when Josephine wandered over towards Bianchi's to see how Maria was doing with her new job, assuming of course she was still employed.

When she arrived, she spotted Maria waiting on a table, and couldn't help but snicker at the sight of her raven-haired friend wearing a black apron with two big pockets on the sides made of Italian flags. She looked so adorable holding a small notepad and writing down orders. Though she also took note of Maria's fingers, which had a number of colorful plasters on them.

She took a seat at an empty table in the outdoor section of the restaurant where she waited patiently to be served.

"Ahhhh! Josephine! Welcome back!" exclaimed Lorenzo Bianchi as he came and sat himself down at her table.

"Mr. Bianchi. Good evening," she calmly and politely answered.

"Come to check on little Maria?"

"There is nothing little about that girl…"

"Hahahaha! No. There is not. But you have nothing to worry about. She learns quickly. She already memorized the menu and has no problem dealing with the customers. I just can't leave her in the kitchen yet… Jesus Christ... she leave her blood all on my prosciutto."

Josephine nodded at that, "Good thing I wasn't craving pork… Any chance of an espresso?"

"Yes of course. Single or double?"

"A double please."

"Would you like a little bit of Grappa with that?"

"I don't think I know what that is."

"You'll like it. It goes beautifully with the espresso."

"You do know you can get in trouble for serving to minors right?"

"Che palle! This is Japan. Nobody cares!" he yelled. "I be right back with the caffè e grappa."

"Well, he obviously doesn't seem to care. Why should I?" she asked herself as he walked away.

* * *

McKenna slouched back in her chair and rubbed her eyebrow as a headache started to come on. "I think we've done all we can do for now. From here on it's just up to Tatenashi to actually get the parts and materials for assembly. And finalize the weapon selection."

"Yeah. I agree, and I'm starving. Anyone wanna come to the cafeteria?" asked Mayuzumi.

McKenna shook her head, "I said I'd cook dinner for Josephine and Maria tonight. So I'm going to get started on that. Also it's getting dark, so I'll bet that at least Josephine will be home very soon."

Tatenashi checked the time on her phone and then looked up at McKenna, "If they aren't back by now, they're probably having dinner in town. Why don't you call and ask them?"

McKenna rolled her eyes, "Not a chance. Josephine has some serious nyctophobia. No way she'll stay out when it gets properly dark. I also told them I'd make them dinner last night. So they know it. Also, I don't have Josephine's number, and Maria doesn't have a phone."

"She doesn't have a phone?! How can you live without a phone in this day and age?!" asked an incredulous Tatenashi.

"Not my problem," she muttered while standing up. "I'm gonna get our dinner started. I don't mean to be rude, but if you're gonna go, you should go now because I don't wanna be antisocial, you know?"

"No no. I understand completely," answered Mayuzumi while standing up and then gently pushed up her glasses. "I had a good time with both of you today. I hope we can all continue to be friends."

Tatenashi clapped her hands, "More friends is always great! Anyway, I think I'll hang out here until they get back. I have plenty of food in my dorm that's ready to eat."

* * *

Meanwhile back at Bianchi's, Maria had just finished her shift and went to sit down with her roommate at her table. Josephine had been reading and sipping her Grappa. When she saw the crimson-eyed girl sit down, she closed her book and smiled across the table at her.

"How was your first day of work?"

"It was actually fun. There's a fair few Italians who come eat here and they were all surprised at how well I can speak Italian. Anyway, hope you don't mind, I thought that since you were here we could celebrate a little. I ordered us some dinner which the other girl is gonna bring out to us soon. It's on me this time. Nothing fancy just some pasta. I hope you like Arrabiata sauce."

"I do indeed. Thank you. I'm happy to accept."

"Great! Never had it myself but I smelled the sauce in the kitchen and I was dying to try it."

Maria then turned her head up to the sky, "Uhh, Josie. I just realized, what are you even doing here? It's getting dark really fast. Shouldn't you already be back at the dorm?"

Josephine shook her head, "I'll be fine. The street seems to have plenty of illumination, and as long as I'm not alone I can manage it."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. Believe me."

"It must suck to be afraid of the dark. You can't go stargazing or… Ahh crap. I couldn't even take you to see the Northern Lights."

"No. I wouldn't be able to do any of those things. The only stargazing I do is look at Hubble pictures on the internet."

"Can I ask why you're so scared of the dark?"

Josephine snickered in amusement, "For someone who does not talk about herself at all, you certainly ask a lot of personal questions."

"I guess that's fair. Sorry. I won't pry."

"Respecting my personal boundaries now? Who are you and what have you done with Maria?"

"I can be nice sometimes…"

"Well, do let me know when it's one of those times."

Maria giggled to herself.

* * *

McKenna checked the time on her phone as she sautéed her Jambalaya and then grumbled to herself. It was getting late, and it was even already completely dark outside. Even the school cafeteria would soon be closed.

"Looks like they aren't coming back for dinner," remarked Tatenashi as she came to hover over the cooking pan. "Mmm. This smells amazing. Shame most of it will be going to waste."

"It's fine. I can just freeze it and then microwave it whenever I want."

"Does that mean I can't partake of this fine cooking with you? It'd be a crime to let you eat all alone."

McKenna rolled her amber eyes and then turned to glare into the shorter bluenette's ruby eyes. "Are you trying to hit on me again?"

"No! Of course not! It's just my way of inviting myself to dinner with you!"

"Alright. But I think if you and I are going to continue being friends, we need to set certain boundaries."

Tatenashi widened her eyes in surprise, "Like what?"

"Well, just off the top of my head, maybe we should start with you taking your hand off my ass? That would be great."

She took her hand back and gave her a sly smirk, "You're no fun. When I do this to my friend Utsuho she gets all flustered and red. But you didn't even flinch!"

"Helps that I've come to expect a high level of audacity from you. So when you do something like that, it doesn't surprise me. But it does make me uncomfortable, so if you could not do that, I would appreciate it. I'm cool with you being gay, or bi, or whatever you wanna call it, but I'd rather you not come onto me because I'm completely hetero and you're wasting your time."

"If it matters, I identify as pansexual."

"Isn't that just a fancy word for being bi-sexual?"

"Not quite. It's a bit broader than that. Gender or gender identity doesn't factor into anything for me."

"I see. But like I said. I'm straight. Meaning I'm attracted to males. So. You're barking up the wrong tree here."

"Oh don't worry, I know that. Doesn't mean I can't tease you a little."

"So lemmie get this straight. To you, sexual harassment is just a little harmless teasing. Dare I ask what you might consider bullying?"

Tatenashi flashed her a devilish toothy grin with a sinister gleam in her ruby eyes which eerily reminded her of Maria for a moment. "Let's hope you never have to find out."

McKenna audibly gulped before turning her full attention to dishing out her freshly cooked Jambalaya.

* * *

It was two hours later when Josephine and Maria returned to the dorm room. The first thing to hit Josephine was the scent of the recent cooking, followed by the sight of a sink filled with a pot and pan, dishes, and utensils.

"Whoa. It smells!" exclaimed Maria who immediately dove into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Josephine grumbled to herself as she stepped into the room properly and looked around for McKenna, spotting her lying on the top bunk and staring at her phone.

"Hey. Welcome home," she casually greeted.

"Thank you," she answered while sliding open the balcony door to air the room out. "Are you going to do those dishes?"

"Nope," was her quick response.

"It's usually customary to clean up after one's self…" answered Josephine. Growing increasingly confused by the Canadian's sudden turn towards rude behavior.

But this time there was no answer. McKenna had stuck in some earbuds and had music going. Try as she might, she couldn't account for the Canadian's sudden dramatic reversal of attitude. This wasn't the same girl who was too afraid to enter her own dorm room for fear of disturbing anyone back when they first met. She certainly wasn't anything close to the stereo typical apologetic Canadian, not that she ever was.

Josephine went up to the bunk and pulled out one of her earbuds. "McKenna!"

"Hey! Back off!"

"Not until you explain your issue to me!"

"There's nothing to explain. Just leave me alone damn it!"

Josephine tried again to get an answer when the bathroom door slid open and then quickly closed again. A moment later Maria came out into the room and seated herself at the dinner table. "Damn that feels so much better. Had to take that dump since this afternoon. By the way, you probably shouldn't go in there. We forgot to get air fresheners. So best let the fan run for a while."

"Maria… If you want to stay on my buddy list, never again send me notifications about anything to do with your bowels!" yelled McKenna.

"I'll have to second that," added Josephine. "And there are freshener sprays in the cabinet, in the shelf under the towels. So go get that sorted if you please. I'd like to use it next."

"Good to know!" exclaimed Maria while skipping back to the bathroom.

"And leave that light on for me!" Josephine yelled after her.

She then turned back to McKenna, "So tell me. What is your problem?"

"You obviously don't remember that we agreed that I'd cook for us tonight. You also clearly don't remember agreeing to be back here for dinner. But it's completely fine. Tatenashi was over and we ate together. There's left over in the freezer, so you and Maria can just pop it in the microwave whenever you want."

The blonde sighed deeply. "That's right. I did agree to have dinner with you tonight. I apologize sincerely. I should have called to let you know we couldn't make it back for dinner. It won't happen again."

"Yes it will. We've known each other for a week so far, and you never even bothered getting my phone number."

"I can correct that right now if you're willing to let me."

"I don't think so. We just live together. We aren't exactly friends. It was stupid of me expect you to feel obligated to remember our dinner plans. Maybe it's better if we all just keep our own social circles and just stay out of each other's way here at home."

"Well, if that's how you feel about it…"

"If that's how she feels about it then her toilette and shower sharing privileges are revoked. She also has to clean up those disgusting dirty dishes her damn self right fucking now before I climb up there and fucking make her do it. See, I would wash disgusting bacterial infected dishes for a friend. Even Lorenzo couldn't pay me enough to dirty my hands with other people's germs. Now, if I won't wash dishes for money at the place I work do you think I'd fucking do it for a stranger who shares a room with me? Or share a shower with her? Or a mother fucking toilette? I didn't take a piss or shit all day because I couldn't use the one at the restaurant!"

"I already told you I don't wanna hear about your bowels!"

"And you just said you weren't our friend! If you're not our friend, why should I give you any respect?"

"Maria! That's quite enough!"

"The big girls are talking now. Just sit down on the floor, stay quiet, and watch TV."

"McKenna! Don't feed the troll!"

"First smart thing you've said since you entered the room."

"Maria. Stay quiet. McKenna. I already apologized for ruining your dinner plans. But are you honestly going to be this petty about it? I'd expect this from Maria, but not from you."

"You'll be surprised Josie. You ain't got no idea just how petty I can be. Kenny can't hold a candle to me."

"Not exactly something to be boasting about little Miss Washboard!" yelled McKenna.

"Washboard?" asked Maria with a raised eyebrow.

"You're fucking flat chested!"

"And what? Am I supposed to feel bad about that? Inferior somehow? Whatever…"

Josephine started massaging both side of her head. "If this is how we're behaving now… I dare not think what it might be like when one or more of us starts to menstruate…"

Maria snickered to herself, "If it's all of us at once, I'm sure we can get a few of the girls to dig themselves a mass grave on some secluded part of the island."

"That's not even close to being funny…" muttered Josephine.

"Yeah it was," said Maria while putting both of her hands up on the side of McKenna's bed. "Mind your head Josie," she warned before pulling herself up and over like a gymnast. Then she was laying on the bed where McKenna had just been, with the Canadian now with her back firmly up against the wall and a flabbergasted look on her face.

"Hi," greeted Maria with a small wave of her hand.

"Get the fuck out of my bed bitch!"

"Not until you and Josie make up. Preferably kiss and make up, but-"

"I'm not going to tell you again Maria!"

"I'm all for a cat fight. But this is getting stupid," answered Maria while Josephine stared with wide eyes at the sheer audacity of the little raven-haired girl.

"You know what I'm really pissed about?!"

"No. But I wanna know, so tell us!"

"I defended you two. When someone asked me why I put up with you, I defended you. Then you two skip out on the dinner plans we had. That embarrassed me! Friends don't do that to each other!"

"I wouldn't know. You two are the only friends I've ever really had."

"Bullshit!" yelled McKenna.

"Impossible!" yelled Josephine.

"No. It's really true. Sure I had a bunch of kids I got to play with when I was little. But those weren't friends. I had a girlfriend for about a month when I was thirteen. We went on a couple dates and then she shoved me out of the closet to my mom. That was an epic shit storm… But anyway. My point is, I've never had friends. So yeah. I don't know how to be a proper friend. Also, nobody told me about this dinner thing. I'm gonna assume it was discussed while you two were ignoring me and putting away your groceries. So, would I have come home for dinner had I known? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. We'll never know. But I sure as fuck never would have known you'd get this pissed off about me not showing up."

"I'm not at all pissed about _**YOU**_ not showing up! I never expected you to give a fuck! It's Josephine I expected to know better!"

"And you were right to expect better of me, and I let you down, and for that I do apologize."

"If I accept her apology will you get the fuck outta my bed?" she asked while glaring irately into Maria's red eyes.

"Absolutely!"

"Apology accepted then… I'm also sorry for how I overreacted to all this…"

"No you aren't…" muttered Josephine.

"No. No I'm not."

"It's fine if you aren't. I don't expect you to be apologetic. You have every right to be offended."

"Damn right I do…" she muttered while climbing down off her bunk. "I'll go clean up the kitchen now."

"And I'll get down off your bed," said Maria while jumping down off the side of the bunk and landing gracefully on her feet.

"And I'll go have my piss now…" muttered Josephine while walking off to the bathroom.

* * *

Josephine sat up with her bedside lamp on and her blue book in her covered lap when her phone buzzed. She picked it up off the nightstand and read a text message with a small smile on her lips.

" _If the Musketeers are suppose to be good, why are they all so bad?"_ read the message from Aisha written in French.

Josephine smiled and looked down at the foot of her bed which Maria used as a backrest to watch her Japanese cartoons. Then looked up at the top bunk, and though she couldn't see McKenna, she knew she was up there. She then looked down at her phone and started typing her response.

" _Good and bad are subjective. At the beginning, they're out looking for a fight. They treat D'Artagnan badly when they first meet him, but they redeem themselves by being his friends. They all have their own ambitions and motivations but they stay together and work together, but you're right, they aren't what modern readers might consider to be good people. But that's what makes it so interesting. It's more real than modern literature exactly because they are all so very flawed. Aren't real people just as badly flawed? I know my friends all are."_

A few short moments later a response came in. " _May I ask why your friends are flawed?"_

Josephine let out a little laugh though her nose before typing in her response. " _I suppose in some strange way, I'm just like D'Artagnan. I picked my first fight here because my sense of justice was offended by something I saw. Now I have a wise and knowledgeable Athos in the form of a lovely Canadian girl named McKenna. We have an Aramis in the form of a religious Australian girl named Jennifer. Then we have a Porthos in the form of Tatenashi whom I haven't seen in a fight yet, but is certainly amorous enough to qualify for the role. Particularly when it comes to McKenna."_

" _MDR! Your friends sound like fun!"_

" _MDR? And yes, they are."_

" _Ah sorry. "Mort de rire" in English I think they write "LOL" non?"_

" _Oui. But I'll remember MDR now. ^^"_

" _Would you like to meet for coffee next Saturday? We can make more solid plans closer to the weekend if you like?"_

" _Oui. That would be lovely. I'll look forward to it. Until then."_

Suddenly there was a loud knock at their door which turned Josephine's head while Maria stood up.

"I'll see who it is…" said Maria while walking towards it.

"Just don't escalate anything!" said Josephine. Something she somehow knew would fall on deaf ears.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

" **Things escalate..."**

"Who the hell is she fighting this time?" asked McKenna as she and Tatenashi took a seat beside Josephine in the arena.

The English girl sighed heavily before answering. "I don't know her name, only that she's a senior. But before you ask, I do know _**why**_ they're fighting…"

"Would you enlighten us?" requested the bluenette while loosening her necktie.

"Apparently, this one's younger sister lives in the dorm next to us, she came by and introduced herself last night. Seems she's taken exception to Maria for spending most of last night watching TV."

"She wasn't the only one to take exception! But can they really hear our TV through the walls?"

Tatenashi had a quick laugh before interjecting, "Welcome to Japan. Land of exotic Kit Kat flavors and paper thin walls! My best friend Utsuho told me about these girls next door to her last year, apparently they were pretty, _vocal_ , at night, and she could hear _**everything**_."

McKenna raised an eyebrow, "Everything?"

"Everything!"

Josephine turned to Tatenashi as this story seemed more interesting than the one sided curb stomp that was the battle below. "Dare I ask what your friend ended up doing about it? I'd wager that made her rather uncomfortable."

"That's an understatement… She didn't end up having to do anything, after about the third time it happened, Miss Orimura dealt with it."

"That must have been embarrassing…"

"I'm not sure what was worse for them… Getting that visit from Miss Orimura? Or realizing the reason nobody went near them was because everyone in the school knew they were into watersports?"

"Tatenashi… From now on, and forevermore, I'd like you to end all of your stories one sentence earlier!" demanded an irate Canadian.

"Seconded…" muttered Josephine who was looking revolted.

Suddenly the area erupted into applause and the battle was mercifully at an end with Maria Cross standing triumphantly over her defeated foe's Ucigane. After a brief exchange between the two the older girl screamed in horror while the dozens of girls in the arena started to loudly chant together:

" **Do it! Do it! Do it!"**

McKenna looked around in confusion, "What the hell? Did anyone hear what Maria asked her to do?"

Tatenashi punched into her palm and held her fist in annoyance, "Damn it! I missed it! I guess we're going to see for ourselves any moment now."

The answer came when the arena's loud speakers started blaring very familiar music for everyone to hear.

" **Do it! Do it! Do it!"** chanted the audience.

Slowly the girl in the Uchigane stood up and started doing the Robot dance in her IS while the audience started singing along with the lyrics.

" **DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO! DOMO! DOMO!"**

" **DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO! DOMO! DOMO!"**

" **DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO! DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO! DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO!"**

" **DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO! DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO! DOMO ARIGATO MISTER ROBOTO!"**

"Well played Maria… Very well played," Josephine mused to herself.

When the singing started, Maria even started dancing beside the other girl and made a fun spectacle of the whole thing which seemed uncharacteristically sporting of the little American. The sight of the intimidating visage of the winged Meteor dancing the robot was so amusing and entertaining that Josephine couldn't help but pull out her phone to record the scene for posterity but quickly had her phone snatched by Tatenashi who shook her head disapprovingly.

"The first rule of Fight Club... You do not talk about Fight Club! That also means no video, and no pictures."

"Yes… I knew that. I got carried away. Sorry…"

The arena erupted into loud applause and cheering once the spectacle was over and a few moments later they gathered students began to leave in an orderly fashion.

"Just how did Maria set this up?" wondered McKenna.

"Probably bribed someone in the control room to play the music for her?" suggested Tatenashi.

McKenna simply shrugged as they walked out.

* * *

Mayuzumi was walking with her book bag in one hand, and some notes on McKenna's calculations for the construction of Tatenashi's IS frame in her other hand which she read as she walked. To say she was impressed would have been an understatement. The Canadian girl was a genius. No, she didn't know how to do this math on her own, after helping her with math homework she could testify to her ineptitude in court.

But McKenna knew how to compensate for her shortcomings. She knew how to use technology to do what she couldn't do for herself. That way of thinking probably contributed to her amazing combat performance against their instructor. She knew how to use her tools, and Kaoruko Mayuzumi knew she could learn from her new friend.

"So I hear from the others that you've been spending a lot of time with Tremblay, and Tatenashi Sarashiki from class three."

Kaoruko was startled by the voice speaking to her from beside her. She was too caught up in what she was reading and thinking to pay attention to what was going on around her.

"Arad? What do you need? I'm busy at the moment."

"I just want to know if you've learned anything useful from Tremblay. Rumor has it that blue haired floozy was openly flirting with her. Is she gay? Can we threaten to out her if she doesn't help us?"

"She isn't gay, and that would be horrible! I would never allow you to do that!"

"That's cute. You think I'm asking permission. I'm only asking you for information. You must have gotten something we can use to put them in their places!"

"You're not getting anything like that from me. I just got her to be friends with me, I'm not going to betray her trust!" she said forcefully while walking faster to try and get away from her classmate.

But Kaoruko would have no such luck as the Israeli walked faster to get in front and block her way. The bespectacled girl put down the paper she was reading and glared into Daniella's brown eyes.

"What do you think you're doing Arad?"

"I'm only going to say this to you once Mayuzumi. They are going to be gone soon. You can either help me with that, or you'll be gone as well. Now either tell me what I want to know, or you'll make an enemy of me. You don't want me as your enemy."

"I'm not sure who's worse. You. Or Cross."

"Oh it's definitely me. Cross does what she does because she's just a bitch. I do what I do because I have a goal. A goal which I will not allow you, or anyone, to impede."

"And what goal is that?"

"I'm going to get rid of the Representative Contenders."

"Why? And how would you even-"

"That's none of your concern. You just have your part to play. Willing or otherwise."

"What is wrong with you?! Are you just trying to take their place or something?!"

"Pfft. So naive… That wouldn't work for me. See. I don't have political connections, money, family name, background, or any of those nice things to get me a shot like that. If I did, this wouldn't be a problem. No. The only path to progression for you, me, or anyone who isn't gifted with their own Infinite Stratos, is simple subversion. It is how the system is set up after all. For the strong to feed on the weak. That's why it needs to go away."

"It absolutely is not! Whatever you want to say about them, and whatever we think about them, they had to earn their status. They had to work hard to get to where they are!"

"Is that what you think? You poor, stupid, bitch. This is a school established with the objective of training IS pilots. But with only the meager handful of IS cores available only one in every hundred students to graduate from this school will be lucky enough to keep piloting an Infinite Stratos as a career. And if you're not one of the elites blessed with beauty, charm, intelligence, money, a clean reputation, and above all, social status, then you're doomed. All you'll get to keep from this experience is some cute little anecdotes to tell your menial laboring co-workers as you sit forgotten on the road side! Why? Because they don't put people like you and me on magazine covers and shower us with endorsement contracts! You're ugly, and I'm politically inconvenient for my country, and the world by extension. So. The only way to get ahead, is to subvert the entire system!"

"You're insane…"

"You have no idea. Now make yourself useful and tell me what I want to know, or I'll have to go to the administration and tell them all about how you touched me in the bathroom…"

Kaoruko narrowed her eyes behind her glasses. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me… **I'll tell everyone about how you touched me in the bathroom! How you put your dirty greasy fingers inside me!** "

Kaoruko tensed up and started looking around at the few students who started gawking at the scene between them. "Shut up! I did no such thing! What is wrong with you?!"

Daniella leaned in to whisper into her ear, "Remember what happened with Orimura? It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do. Only what you can prove. Just the rumor of you sexually abusing me will be enough of a scandal to destroy your reputation forever."

"That'll never happen! Nobody would believe you!"

"Look around… They don't give a shit about you or me, they just want something to gossip about. Now that you're such good friends with Tremblay… You're not on my side anymore. So between you touching me in the bathroom, and Williams helping someone harass me in the park, it'll look like you're all conspiring against me because Cross and I don't get along… Perception is everything in this world. The Japanese know that better than anyone else. Something about inside and outside faces? Whatever you call it. We're all two faced, but you backwards idiots take it to a whole other extreme which makes you very vulnerable to gossip."

Mayuzumi looked into her eyes for a long moment, and saw that she was very serious. She then slowly lowered her head.

"Williams is afraid of the dark. She won't go out at night..." she replied in a low and deeply shamed voice without making eye contact with Daniella.

"Good. That's excellent. What about Cross and Tremblay? What are their weaknesses?"

"I don't have anything on Cross except that she seems to be the same way at home as she is in class. Tremblay… has problems with her boyfriend. I don't know what exactly, she wouldn't talk about it."

"Keep digging then, and don't you dare betray me like you just betrayed them. If you do, you'll see how much further I can go," she said sternly while walking away in the opposite direction.

* * *

In room 1042, McKenna sat at the dinner table with Mayuzumi and Tatenashi while Josephine worked in the kitchen and Maria sat in her usual spot on the floor to watch the TV.

The discussion was loud and animated until McKenna finally slapped her hand to her face in exasperation, "Oh my God! Where the hell do you get these ideas?!"

"You said I could have two weapons in the preset. This is what I want as my second."

"It's a stupid weapon! And what does a sword whip thing have to do with a Rusty Nail anyway?"

"No idea, I just give things silly names like that."

"At least she's not naming it Chunchunmaru…" muttered Mayuzumi, to which Tatenashi started cracking up.

"Can I get in on the joke?" asked McKenna.

"Too much explanation required if you haven't seen the anime it came from…" explained Tatenashi.

"My cat is actually named Chomusuke…" muttered Mayuzumi.

Tatenashi started cracking up again, "Pfft! Hahaha! Nice one!"

"Whatever. Your names are still stupid. At least the double entendre of Mysterious Lady kinda sort of works for it. But Rusty Nail? Also Heavy Rain for the Lance? Come on… There will be nothing heavy about that rain! It's just a four barreled fifty caliber machine gun!"

"Kenny, just give your girlfriend whatever she wants eh? It's better for you in the long run."

"Don't you dare start Maria! And I'm the only one in this room who can say ' _eh!'_ "

"Say… I'm curious. Is that a double bass there in the corner?" asked Tatenashi while pointing at the large white hard case resting against the wall near the balcony door. "Which one of you plays that? I bet it's Josephine!"

"It's actually mine," answered Maria with her hand raised.

"Really? How do you play that? You're like half its height?"

"For your information, it's only thirty eight centimeters taller than me."

"Play us something!"

"You got it!" exclaimed the little American while shutting off the TV and going to get out her double bass.

Tatenashi turned her ruby eyes onto Mayuzumi who was staring at her laptop screen with a blank expression. "While she's doing that. How're you doing with the electronics?"

"I've got most of it figured out. I think I really overestimated how difficult this would actually be. The design software Tremblay suggested makes everything so easy."

McKenna crossed her arms and put on a smug smile, "I used that same program to design my own racing drone last year. That was a hell of a lot of fun! Came in second place."

"Impressive! I never had a drone, but I love watching them on YouTube, they get amazing video from-" Tatenashi then turned to Maria, pointed and burst into laughter, "Oh hahahahaha!"

McKenna turned around to see what was so funny and then started cracking up as well, and finally Mayuzumi looked up from her laptop and pressed up her glasses with an amused smirk.

"What's so funny?" asked Josephine and then started laughing as well when she saw Maria standing on the hard case of her double bass to be able to comfortably reach the neck of her instrument.

"Back in the states, I had this wooden box I stood on to play this thing… But yeah. Laugh it up!" she said before she started playing, or rather, strumming the strings. A moment later she started using her fingers to tap the body of the instrument to add percussion while quickly moving back to play the strings and then drummed again.

"Okay… That's not funny, that's in-fucking-credible!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

"Is that Flamenco? On a Double Bass?" asked an incredulous Josephine.

"Eeeyup," answered Maria while her head bobbed to her beat.

Mayuzumi shook her head disapprovingly, "It's so unfair that someone so evil is so talented… I wish I could play any kind of instrument..."

"Don't envy it. Our blessings come with our curses," remarked Maria before she started playing another tune. "This one usually goes better on a guitar, but I can do fucking anything with my Double mother fucking Bass! _**HEEEEY YEAH!**_ "

Tatenashi instantly recognized the song and got up to start dancing a silly dance to the song. "Woooo hooo! This place is a party!"

" _ **Si, sabes que ya llevo un rato mirándote! Tengo que bailar contigo hoy! Vi que tu mirada ya estaba llamándome! Muéstrame el camino que yo voy!"**_ sang Maria in Spanish.

Tatenashi tried to rip McKenna out of her seat to make her dance with her.

"No no no! I don't dance! That's the only thing I can't do! Forget it!"

"Come on! Live a little and have some fun!"

" _ **Des-pa-cito. Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito! Deja que te diga cosas al oído! Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo! Des-pa-cito. Quiero desnudarte a besos despacito! Firmo en las paredes de tu laberinto! Y hacer de tu cuerpo todo un manuscrito!"**_

Maria picked up the tempo a bit as the mood in the room changed with Josephine clapping along and even Mayuzumi bobbing her head to the beat.

"Come on Kenny! The Human butt was made to move to music like this! Just sway those hips! It's not hard!" exclaimed Tatenashi while demonstrating a seductive sway of her hips to the music.

"I'm sorry! I bust heads not moves!" she yelled in spite of her hips involuntarily moving to the music.

Mayuzumi palmed her face as Tatenashi started salaciously dancing with the Canadian. "So what? Is the only kind of music you know in Spanish?" she asked Maria.

"No. I really meant it when I said I could do anything with the Bass," she answered while pulling the bow out of a holder in the front of her instrument and then started sliding it across the strings to play the well known 'He's a Pirate' theme from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Tatenashi accordingly changed how she was dancing with McKenna, by locking arms with her and making her walk in circles with silly movements of her legs like what she thought old pirates would dance. That was, like drunken fools.

"Porthos the Pirate…" muttered Josephine in reference to the Disney adaptation of the Three Musketeers while wandering back into the kitchen to keep an eye on the food she was preparing.

"Here's one for you Josie!" yelled Maria while playing the James Bond theme.

"Just because he's English doesn't mean I can identify with him!"

"How about this then?!" she asked loudly before switching to the Game of Thrones theme song.

Everyone burst into laughter at that while Josephine bobbed her head to the melody and stirred her stew.

"Yes! That's more like it!"

But Josephine's enjoyment of the music was interrupted by a very loud banging on the door before it swung open and hit her in the arm, knocking her away. "People are trying to study! Keep it down!" yelled Daniella Arad at the top of her lungs.

"Excuse me!" yelled Josephine. "Simply knocking doesn't entitle you to barge in! You just hit me with the bloody door!"

"You deserved it! You're all disturbing everyone! Either keep it down or I'm going to Miss Orimura!"

"Hey!" yelled Maria. "Apologize to her!"

"Fuck you! This is all your fault! You apologize to everyone in this building!"

" _ **Fuck me?"**_ she asked with her bow pointed at herself, and then pointed it at the Israeli girl, " _ **FUCK YOU!"**_

" **Hey hey hey! Everyone take it down a notch!"** yelled Tatenashi at the top of her lungs! "I don't know who you are, but apologize to Josephine! And then we'll keep it down!"

"You know what? Fuck you too!" yelled Daniella at Tatenashi.

Maria sighed and applied the bow to her bass strings again to play a haunting melody which Daniella quickly recognized and glared incredulously at Maria with murder in her eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me something Cross?!"

"Yes. If you don't get out of our house, you'll be ' _ **Crossed'**_ off of Schindler's List."

While Daniella balled her fists, Josephine, McKenna, and Tatenashi all glared at the raven-haired girl with their mouths agape. Completely and utterly stunned by what she had just said as if it were nothing.

Before things could further escalate, there was another loud knock on the already open door.

"I hate to break up the party," said Chifuyu Orimura in an icy cold voice. "But since you obviously can't resolve this crap on your own, I'm going to do it for you."

"Not after what she just said! I'm going to kill her!" yelled Daniella.

"I heard what she said. I'll deal with it. Just get out of here."

"No! I won't let you give her a light punishment and forgive her! What she said was _**unforgivable!**_ "

"Unless you want to share in her punishment. Get out. **Now!** "

"Yes ma'am… But if this isn't handled to my satisfaction, it won't be the end of it!"

Chifuyu narrowed her eyes on the brunette, "Arad… Keep your mouth closed, and walk away…"

Daniella gave one last hateful glare at Maria who in turn blew her a kiss, causing her to turn and walk away with indignant fury. But unknown to everyone else in the room, once she was out, she smiled cheerfully to herself and walked away confidently once she was fully out of sight.

Meanwhile, back in room 1042…

"Williams. Shut that door. Everyone else, take a seat," Chifuyu ordered.

"Yes ma'am… But… I umm… I can't exactly leave this unattended," said Josephine while closing the door as instructed.

"I didn't ask you to Williams. Mind your soup and listen carefully."

Chifuyu crossed her arms and stared down the four girls who were now all seated around the table with their eyes on her. Her eyes eventually settled on the crimson eyes of the American.

"Cross. You're suspended for the rest of the week. Tomorrow morning at exactly six AM, you will report to the head of the janitorial staff. You're on latrine duty until further notice. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Mayuzumi. Out of the chair," she commanded calmly, but sternly.

"Yes ma'am!" exclaimed the pinkette while quickly getting up.

Chifuyu then took the chair and pulled it closer until she was staring deep in Maria's eyes.

"I've been to a lot of places… I've seen a lot of things… I've met a lot of people. But I have never, ever, had the misfortune of interacting with anyone who could say something so unspeakable. Not even to their worst enemies. Now I'm going to give you one chance, only one chance, to explain yourself to me, and you had better make it very, very good. Because that suspension I gave you, was only for disturbing the peace. I still haven't decided what to do about what you said to Arad."

Maria looked away and took a breath, she held it for a long moment before meeting her instructor's eyes again, "Permission to speak freely ma'am?"

Chifuyu narrowed her eyes in annoyance, "I told you before this isn't the Army. But whatever. Permission granted… Make it good."

"Thank you ma'am," she replied professionally before narrowing her own red eyes to match the stern expression she was getting from her teacher.

Chifuyu raised a curious eyebrow at the audacity of it.

"Ma'am. If you expect something apologetic out of me. It isn't going to happen. You asked me once if I thought you were an idiot, and I was being honest when I said I didn't. So I'm sure you know that it's the fucking Lord of the Flies in your class. I don't know what that Kike's motivation is, but she's the one who wants the power. If I show her or anyone an ounce of weakness I'm in for a worse fate than anything you could ever do to me. So you do what you have to do, and I'll do what I have to do."

"Do you want to be expelled? Because you could have just said that and saved your breath."

"Of course I don't want to be expelled. But if you have to expel me then that's your prerogative. If this little demon gets expelled then she just goes back to the hell she came from and your lives all go on like normal. It's no skin off your back."

"You really don't know anything about nuance, or subtle niceties which make people less inclined to hate you. Do you? It's a completely alien concept to you? I read your file. Everyone who ever taught you had nothing but spectacularly good things to say about you. So what happened between now and then to make you this way?"

"Whatever you read, it was all bullshit. All of it."

"I already knew that. But it's nice to have it confirmed. So what made you this way?"

"Humans. God made me in his image; a pathetic and frightened little child. But Humans… Humans made me into a monster with enough power to stare into the face of Chifuyu Orimura and not feel an ounce of fear. So go ahead and do what you have to do. I've said all I'm going to say."

"Well… I've made my decision then..."

Josephine nervously spoke up before she could finish, "Miss Orimura… Might I Interject here?"

"No Williams. You may not. But what you can do is hurry up and serve your soup. I'm hungry."

Josephine widened her eyes in surprise but rather than question it, hurried up to comply and started filling the academy issued soup bowls she had ready, plus an extra for her teacher.

"You're not going to expel me?" asked Maria.

"No Cross. I'm going to do something much, much worse. I'm going to teach you. And you're going to learn."

Maria sat back in her chair and closed her eyes while Chifuyu did exactly the same.

Meanwhile, McKenna quickly got up from her seat and went over to the computer desk to move over the two chairs they had there to the dining table for Josephine and Mayuzumi to be able to sit and eat. Mayuzumi meanwhile quickly picked up her laptop and notes and put them on the computer desk to clear space while Tatenashi quickly did the same with her own notebooks.

Once the table was cleared, Josephine started bringing over the soup bowls.

"What are we eating?" asked Chifuyu while looking down at the soup.

"Minestrone. I hope it's to your liking," she politely answered before taking her own seat at the now overly crowded table where the six had to sit shoulder to shoulder to be able to eat in the still tense and awkward atmosphere.

"Itadakimasu," said Chifuyu, Mayuzumi, and Tatenashi at the same time before they started eating.

McKenna and Josephine looked around curiously before they started eating, while Maria had simply started eating without a thought about the strange Japanese custom.

"Mmm… My compliments to the chef," remarked Chifuyu after having a few spoons of the soup.

"Thank you ma'am."

"This really is amazing… Where'd you learn to cook?" asked Mayuzumi.

"Google taught me. I really only know how to make simple things. Most of which is vegetarian because we couldn't afford meat very often. I had to learn to cook for myself because I was mostly on my own. Both my parents were always working. All day and all night."

"I thought all Representative Contenders were rich elites? How can that be?"

"Pfft! Haha!" laughed McKenna. "Rich? Hah! Nope. Elite? Yeah I suppose. My family has a military history which probably helped me get where I'm at."

Maria stared into her soup bowl for a moment, "My family weren't rich either. I got to where I am because of my IS compatibility rating."

"Seriously?" asked Mayuzumi with wide eyes staring at her soup bowl. "I guess I misjudged… I'm sorry."

"It's true that Representative Contenders almost universally come from upper classes whenever possible because rich families give big money to research and development. But there are exceptions, like in the case of these three. Though Williams is the first from her country who isn't part of the aristocracy," explained Chifuyu. "Which is refreshing because it means she doesn't come with an entire entourage. Self-reliance is a good quality for an IS pilot. Also… This soup is really very good. Top quality home cooking."

"You're embarrassing me ma'am. But McKenna is also a good cook. I hope you can sample some of her food sometime. Preferably under better circumstances..."

"We'll see. I don't make a habit of socializing with students. But I'll admit, you bunch of crazies interest me."

"Yup. They really aren't boring!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

"I lumped you in with them as well. According to your instructors, you're also certifiable."

"Well behaved women don't make history," remarked Josephine.

"That's probably more true than you'll ever know," the teacher answered nonchalantly.

* * *

That night, Maria lay awake in her bed with her mind running in circles while Josephine played a game on her laptop, as usual for her. She stared at her for a while before uncovering herself, she then reached down to pick up her treaded socks and put them on her feet before getting out of the bed.

She walked over to Josephine and pulled up a chair to sit beside her and watch her play. Her Jedi character was healing other players while they all attacked a giant robot of some sort while she was issuing instructions to the people around her in a low voice.

Josephine then put a hand over her microphone and looked over her shoulder at the little American. "Can't sleep?"

Maria shook her head. "No. Mind if I watch? I don't wanna turn on the TV and disturb Kenny."

"How uncharacteristically considerate of you."

"I'm in an uncharacteristic mood…"

Josephine gave a small nod before she uncovered her microphone. "Gentlemen, do we have another healer on the bench? I'd like to spend some time with my friend here and show her the game to cheer her up a little after a shite day."

" _No problem. We'll get someone in after the boss."_

"Thank you. My sincerest apologies for the inconvenience."

" _Apology accepted, Captain Needa."_

Josephine snickered at the response.

* * *

Josephine and Maria had switched seats and the blonde took her roommate through the basics of the game, explaining the factions and character classes to her. About fifteen minutes after that, Maria had created a character she liked and was playing the game.

"Heh. This is kinda fun."

"It is isn't it? It isn't very girly, but I was never really one for the girly things."

"You could have fooled me. You have a beautiful face, a bombshell body, the perfect hair, the pretty clothes…"

"Never judge a book by it's cover. I know how I look. But it's not who I am."

"I'm the opposite. What you see is what you get."

"Haven't you ever considered that the most successful predators are the ones who have good camouflage?"

"Lions, Great White Sharks, Bears, and Wolves all say hi. I've yet to meet the person who runs in pants shitting terror from a Great Horned Owl or a Leaf Tailed Gecko."

"Fair point. I can't name a camouflage predator off the top of my head which does inspire that kind of fear in human beings."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do Josie. But I am what I am. Don't try to change me."

"You're like a porcupine. The closer anyone gets to you the more dangerous you make it for them. I would very much like to understand you. But you make that rather quite difficult, not to mention painful."

"If it's worth anything. I don't do it on purpose. If I could. I would. But I can't."

"Could you at least give me a reason?"

"I can't even give you that… But. You were willing to stick your neck out for me with Miss Orimura today. Even though she shut you down. I did notice that, so I suppose I should stick my neck out a little for you and maybe tell you a story."

"You have my undivided attention," replied Josephine before Maria started speaking in a low voice.

* * *

The American took a deep breath and then refocused her full attention on her game, "Don't ask about anything that happened after that. That's all I can tell you about my past. It was probably even more than I should have said. But whatever. I'll deal with it."

"Maria… I-"

"Don't. I don't want sympathy. I don't want empathy. Neither of those things will undo what happened..." Maria said with tears filling her eyes. "Fuck…" she muttered while wiping her eyes with her fingers.

Josephine did the only thing she could comfortably do in that situation. She picked up the tissue box and set it down in front of her.

"I'm going to try and sleep now. Feel free to keep playing and enjoy it."

"Thanks. At least these Sith seem to have the right idea about shit. Peace is a lie, there is only passion and all that jazz."

"Heh. There is no emotion. There is peace."

"Jedi scum!"

"Haha! Good night Maria."

"Good night Josie."

Once she heard Josephine get into her bed, McKenna pulled up her phone and made sure it was still under the blankets while she started searching the news. Though she tried to listen in, Maria was so quiet it was hard to pick up important details, and she wasn't comfortable going down to actually listen.

"Anchorage, Alaska." she typed into the news search and set her search period to two years ago. For a small city in the part of Canada nobody wanted, it certainly seemed to be a dump. Every other post involved some kind of major crime. Police officers being shot at, car thefts, even a triple homicide. It was no wonder Canada was being flooded with illegal American immigrants these days.

Then one headline stood out to her which seemed to correspond to the timing of Maria's story.

" _Possible arson causes home to explode during the worst blizzard in fifty years…"_ she read the headline and then opened the news article. " _An explosion rocked a quiet neighbourhood in Anchorage today when a gas leak lead to an explosion inside the home of two local residents. The couple escaped with only minor injuries… According to the Fire Department; frozen conditions from the ongoing blizzard prevented the ensuing fire from spreading to neighbouring properties. The exact cause of the leak remains unknown as of this writing but one police official who spoke on condition of anonymity informed the Alaska Star that authorities are pursuing an arson investigation after the couple accused their estranged daughter whom they say they had a fight with earlier that day and ran away from home. Police are searching for the runaway girl."_

McKenna narrowed her eyes at what she'd just read and decided to dig deeper into her suspicion. "Maria Cross; Anchorage, Alaska," she typed into the search bar.

Her first results were some actress she'd never heard of named Marcia Cross which came up due to the autocorrect. She re-input the name and location she was searching for and started scrolling. She came upon some crazy looking chick named Maria Cross with rainbow colored hair doing some crazy street performance here in Japan for some reason. A quick glance let her know beyond all doubt that they weren't the same Maria Cross. Then down a little further she came upon a few social media posts which she tapped to read through.

" _Posted by: Janice Brown… Anybody seen or heard from MariaCross? Cop came over asking about her. Said she's wanted for questioning about that explosion. I told them that lard-ass porker isn't anyone's friend. Apparently there's a reward for information about her if anyone knows anything and needs some extra cash. Seriously how can the cops not find that big fat bitch?! She gets her doughnuts from the same shop!"_

" _Posted by: Brian Baker... MariaCross is probably a thicc meatsicle by now. Not even the guys at McD's have seen her. They said she was as much a staple of the joint as the fries! LOL."_

" _Posted by: Todd Baker: Since 'depression' isn't covered by insurance anymore I guess she had to switch to Happy Meals. And if what I hear about MariaCross and SandyScott is true, she got 'em with exxxtra happy!"_

McKenna scrolled and skimmed through more of what looked like her former school mates discussing rumors and theories and making insults until she finally hit something different.

" _Posted by: Sandra Scott… Dear all. I was at Maria's house the day of the fire. Stuff happened. Stop talking about it."_

Then she hit the last message, posted a week after the last one.

" _Posted by: Martha Taylor… SandyScott and MariaCross got caught having sex. Sandy is at gay conversion therapy, and Maria ran away from home rather than repent. So she probably set that fire on her way out as petty revenge. Mystery solved. Also Sandy is into fat girls. xD"_

McKenna scowled at that comment, not feeling amused in the slightest. If those were the kinds of people she grew up with, it certainly helped explain why she turned out to be such a bitch.

She then scrolled back over the posts and took screenshots of everything to keep for later before clicking one of the links to Maria's old social media page.

She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at how chunky Maria was two years ago before shutting off her screen. She also immediately felt guilty for that because she had literally just been sending out the negative waves at all of Maria's former bullies.

It seemed Maria never posted much to social media in the past. There were a couple videos of her singing or playing the piano shared by her parents, but nothing from herself. It seemed that social media was just something people used to bully her back in the day.

She then turned onto her back and gazed up at the lit ceiling while pondering this new information, and to try and keep the image of the fat Maria out of her mind. It was certainly an impressive feat of weight loss, but the rest of it had heavy implications which she didn't know what to do with except keep it to herself for now. Maria chose to confide in Josephine, not her. So none of this was any of her business anyway.

* * *

The next morning, Maria pulled on some rubber gloves before picking up her mop and bucket from the trolley of cleaning supplies to begin her punishment. After taking a very deep breath to steel herself for what was to come she crossed the threshold into the public bathroom near the monorail station. After a quick glance she instantly lost her breakfast all over the floor and made an even more disgusting mess of the place she was suppose to clean up. The thought of having to clean that up made her retch all over the floor for a second time.

"Orders are orders…" she said to herself before setting her mop to begin her dirty job. "This is so fucking gross…" she said horsley.

* * *

Josephine's eyes fell upon the empty seat in the class, and then onto the brunette who was staring at the same empty seat with a big shit eating grin which Josephine wanted nothing more than to knock off her face with her Infinite Stratos' fist.

Even if Maria went too far with what she said to the Israeli, Josephine knew beyond any doubt that Daniella was going to be trouble. Her encounter with her in the park proved that much beyond a reasonable doubt. But it wasn't enough to convince anyone else beyond that reasonable doubt, and it certainly didn't help that this girl played the part of the well adjusted student except when it came to Maria. They certainly made no secret of their open hostility towards each other.

But there was one critical component missing. Motive. The class detested Maria, that's not a secret. The class detested Josephine as well, that also wasn't a secret. Then there was Mayuzumi; her becoming friends with McKenna came out of nowhere…

"They're working together…" she mumbled to herself while narrowing her blue eyes on the pink haired girl seated in the front row. "But what to do about it?" she wondered to herself.

Little did she know that Mayuzumi's mind was in a similar state of turmoil. She understood all too well that Daniella Arad was chaos incarnate. Maria Cross was obnoxious, arrogant, and rude, but at least with her, what you saw was what you got. Arad was two faced, and she had a plan. A plan which she was getting ready to move forward with. But what was her plan? Getting Cross removed from the academy was only a matter of time now. What would she do next? What was the end game?

"Alright everyone. Class is starting immediately! Textbooks to chapter six. We're going to cover the basics of the IS Core Network!" Chifuyu announced loudly while stepping up to the podium.

"Umm. Miss Orimura? Is Miss Yamada not coming today?" asked a random girl in the class.

"That would seem to be the right conclusion to draw based on the evidence wouldn't it? Any more stupid questions from anyone? No? Good. Now hurry up and open your books. And Williams… I don't know what the hell you're reading right now, but if I catch you with it again during class today, you'll have the devil to pay!"

"Kipling Ma'am. The Jungle Book."

"Sorry. I should have elaborated by saying that I don't know, _**and**_ don't care!"

* * *

Maria used the chemicals provided to thoroughly sanitize the sink and its surroundings before she would use that sink to rinse out her mouth from the vomit she continued to upchuck at the disgusting thought of cleaning public toilets. Standing a meter away from yet another puddle of her own stomach contents which she decided to clean up after cleaning herself up.

"The way you wash your hands, are you going to be performing surgery?" asked Maya Yamada from the entrance way.

Maria didn't even turn around to regard the older woman, she focused entirely on washing the filth and microbes off her person.

"Miss Cross?" asked Maya while watching her scrub herself in an increasingly harsh manner. She reached out to put a hand on the young girl.

Maria raised her voice and snapped her red eyes onto Maya's greens. "Don't touch me! I'm filthy! I'm covered in other people's germs and feces!"

Maya the noticed the steam coming out of the sink. Then Maria put her hands under that scalding hot water and started rinsing the soap off her hands and forearms.

"Miss Cross!" she exclaimed while rushing to shut off the water, which was turned all the way to the red. She inwardly chided herself for not realizing what the girl was really doing to herself. The bespectacled teacher then quickly reached out to take a hold of the her student's hands to examine her arms

"I said don't touch me! I'm not clean!" she exclaimed while pulling herself free of the woman's grasp to resoap her hands.

"Maria!" she yelled loudly next to the smaller girl's ear.

Maria's eyes locked onto Maya's.

"Maria. Take a deep breath. You're not dirty. But you are burning your hands. Cold water will do the job. The soap causes the bacteria to slip off our skin. So lathering, and then thoroughly rinsing is the way to get clean. Burning your skin is what will lead to infection. I'm sure you know that. You're just having a panic attack right now..."

The teacher gently put her arm around the little American girl and then gestured with her other towards her wet hands. "You're not covered in filth. You're just fine. Just breathe and let it pass."

"I'm sorry Miss Yamada…"

Maya shook her head at that, "Don't be sorry. I understand what it's like. When I was a student here, my roommate was also obsessive about cleanliness. She set a lot of very strict rules. For example, all our shoes had to be kept outside the dorm at all times. If she saw any pair of shoes inside, she'd get exactly like you are and start cleaning. We couldn't even use the shoe cabinet inside the dorm. So all our shoes were always out in the hall. As a prank, the girls next door made this big 'Payless Shoes' sign and hung it up over our door."

Maria shook her head and started snickering at the prank. "Sorry… I don't mean to laugh at how people picked on you. But that was kinda funny."

"They could have done worse. They did do worse. But I dealt with it. Anyhow. My point is. I've seen my friend wash her hands until she had second degree burns. Let's try to avoid that outcome for you."

"That, and I still have to clean up this mess I made over there…" she muttered without looking at the puddle of vomit she left on the floor. "But wait… What are you doing here? Isn't it class time?"

"Miss Orimura sent me to supervise you today."

"Did she think I wouldn't follow her orders?"

"No! No that wasn't it at all!"

"So she just thinks that because I look up to you, you might have better luck getting through to me than she did last night?"

"Yes. That's it exactly. So. How about I help you get this-"

"No way! It's my job! I'll get it done! I won't let you clean up my mess!"

* * *

While class was in recess, McKenna bobbed her head to the beat while listening to the music provided by her smartphone. Meanwhile she typed into a virtual keyboard provided by her IS and stared intently at lines of code on a holographic display which hovered in front of her face while also looking back at her phone for reference information on how to do what she was trying to do.

Out of nowhere, Tatenashi pulled one of the earbuds away from McKenna's ear and shoved it into her own ear.

"What are we listening to?" she asked.

The Canadian let out a soft groan of annoyance. "Sabaton."

"Sounds good! I love metal! So what'cha workin' on?'

"I'm trying to figure out how Maria put a music player into her IS by putting one into mine."

"Why don't you just ask her?"

"Call it a point of pride. Anyway. Did you need something, or did you just stop in annoy me?"

"Yeah. Are you interested in Martial Arts? I'm in the Judo Club and we're short of members."

"I got trained in Defendo as part of my IS training with the Canadian Military. Which is mostly just basic self-defense stuff as the name implies. I dunno if Kickboxing qualifies, but I used to do that a lot with my big brother. But no. I'm not really interested in Judo. Kickboxing is just good exercise, not something I take very seriously."

"Well that explains your physique. You have to be good with your legs to have good legs like yours!"

"Tatenashi! Don't start with me again!"

"What's this about Martial Arts?" asked Josephine while walking up behind the pair.

"Oh. I told the Captain of the School's Judo club I'd help her find members since there hasn't been much interest this year. She's afraid the club could get shut down. Are you interested?"

"Historical European Martial Arts. That's why my IS is close combat model. It's all about swordplay and close quarters combat. Then I started training to shoot when I got my beam cannon equalizer package. But all of that aside, does this club offer sword training? I'm always keen to learn new things to use with my IS."

"Afraid not. Judo is all about unarmed combat. Grappling and throwing. Not useless in an IS fight."

McKenna's lips curled into a vicious smirk, "Try to grapple and throw my Vimy Glide. I dare you."

"Challenge accepted!"

"Maybe you should try asking Maria? I've been trying to encourage her to find another club to join."

"I was planning on it. But right now I'm enjoying Kenny's music way too much."

"Yeah, and class is going to start soon, so you should probably run along now," suggested McKenna.

"Meh. Still got plenty of ti- OWWW!" she exclaimed after getting hit the in head with something, "What hell was that fo- Miss Orimura?"

"Consider that your homeroom bell being rung."

"Yes ma'am!" she exclaimed while pulling off the earphone. "Uhh, ma'am. If I want to transfer into your class. Is that possible?"

"At the rate these idiots are all going, I'd say a seat being opened up is not only probable, but inevitable. Now hurry up and get to class!"

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

Tatenashi seated herself at her desk in her own classroom and tapped her desk computer to bring up the holographic display to pick up where she left off in her design work.

"So let me understand this now. You somehow wormed your way into the Russian IS program, then decided you don't like the unit they assigned to you, so you're scrapping it and cannibalizing its parts to build that abomination?"

Tatenashi nodded without looking back at the person speaking to her. "That sounds right. Did you want something?"

"Yeah. I'd like you to look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Tatenashi rolled her eyes while turning her head to the side and then looked up into the eyes of her class representative. Meiying Zhāng, Representative Contender for the People's Republic of China. A girl with short black hair and brown eyes. But the one thing Tatenashi could never take her eyes off, and the reason she avoided looking at her whenever possible, was the horrific looking burn scars going down the side of her face and neck.

"And look at my eyes!" added the Chineses girl.

"It's really hard…"

"Why? Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"Yes."

"Why do I make you uncomfortable? Does my face offend you?"

"No. It's because you keep shoving it in my face looking to provoke a reaction you can use to guilt trip me. I know you're afraid I'll overtake you once I've got my own unit but you don't need to worry. I don't plan on challenging you or replacing you. I don't know why any of you can't just accept that I'm really just redesigning my IS because it's fun for me."

"See… That right there is what pisses me off about you. The Gustoi Touman is _**NOT**_ your IS!"

"I know you're thinking it was personal, but it really wasn't."

"It is personal. Yelena is my friend. She and I lived together, slept together, trained together. Then you came out of nowhere and replaced her. Did you know she's on suicide watch right now? Yelena! You drove Yelena to suicide! The person who kept me from ending my own disgusting life after THIS happened!" she exclaimed while gesturing to her face.

"If it weren't for her, this would have kept me from being here now! If it weren't for her… You heartless bitch. You broke her. You literally took her shot at life. And now not only did you steal her spot, you're destroying all the hard work she put into that IS. If you could do that to her, we can't help but wonder what else you're capable of. So naturally, you make us all as uncomfortable as my melted face makes you."

"I appreciate that she's your friend and that she means a lot to you. But you don't have all the facts, and I can't discuss them with you. You're going to have to ask her. If they let her talk to anyone after what happened."

"Alright everyone! Class is starting!" exclaimed their teacher as she entered the room. "Get your math books out!"

"This isn't over Sarashiki."

"It never is for you. But it is for me," she answered while turning back around to face forward.

* * *

Josephine sighed at the tray of food she set down on the cafeteria table. Fish and Chips was the daily special, but it seemed the cafeteria decided on Shark and Chips to make things interesting. There was literally a small shark in her plate.

Meanwhile, McKenna took a seat opposite her and slid down the bench with Tatenashi sliding in beside her.

"What did you two end up deciding on?" she asked them.

McKenna gazed down at her plate, "Ramen. It seemed the safest choice in this place."

"Honestly… I don't expect a michelin star dining experience here, but what is this suppose to be? Shark Week?" asked Josephine while taking a picture of the Shark and Chips with her phone to send to her parents.

"Can I ask you two what exactly is going on in your class? That girl who barged into your dorm looked like she had a serious axe to grind. Does she have some kind of history with Maria?" asked Tatenashi.

Josephine shook her head, "Not that we know of. Neither of them have said anything."

"I'll ask Mayuzumi. She might know something we don't," suggested McKenna.

The blonde shook her head again, "McKenna. Be careful of your new friend. Her change of approach towards us, and you in particular, has been rather drastic in a short period of time."

"Well yeah. We have her helping us design and build an IS. How cool is that? Why wouldn't she want to take an opportunity like that?"

Josephine sat back in her seat with a long sigh, "Ever since your match against Miss Orimura, you've been different. More aggressive. I suspect that has less to do with the match, and more to do with whatever happened with your boyfriend, furthermo-"

"Josephine… Don't go there. Just let that go!"

"Don't try to fill the void with the first person to come along and be nice to you. I hate to quote the Bible, but, false prophets come to us as wolves in sheep's clothing."

"Matthew, chapter seven, verse fifteen," remarked Jennifer as she set her tray down beside Josephine's and sat down next to her. "Never took you for a Bible reader."

"I went to Catholic School."

"But you're not a believer?"

"According to the Bible, god created man in his image. But I believe that man created god in his image. A fundamentally flawed being who rules over us as a tyrannical monarch."

"I don't think that's true at all. The God of the Christian Bible is good and only wants us to be good as well," answered the Australian with a shrug.

"Please don't get into an argument…" muttered McKenna.

"We're hardly arguing. We're discussing," answered Josephine with a raised finger. "That's what civilized people do."

"Actually, we were about to argue. But it's fine. I don't have a problem arguing about my faith. If I couldn't defend my faith, then my faith wouldn't be very strong now would it?"

"That's certainly a more enlightened response than my former teacher had."

"What did he do?" asked Tatenashi, which with she, McKenna, and Jennifer all leaned in to listen to the answer.

"He tried to pray away my secular ignorance. After that we got into a back and forth about this and that and I ended up in detention. I was quite the delinquent, reading Christopher Hitchens instead of the bible during bible study for example."

"Who's Christopher Hitchens?" asked Jennifer.

"He was one of the more important New Atheist thinkers. He was a journalist who wrote extensively about how religion poisons society. Unlike many of his contemporaries, or opponents, he presented evidence for his points which could stand up to scrutiny. Personally, I agree with much of what he had to say, but I took exception to his methods, and I don't always agree with him on some topics. Like his views on the Iraq war which started so many successive wars... Though I suspect his opinion might have changed had he lived to see the consequences of that war… But I digress. The point is that he was almost always looking to pick a fight. But on the other hand, one can hardly argue against religion without getting into a few scuffles, verbal or otherwise. I was reading his books in class mostly because I wanted to annoy my teacher. He knew who Hitchens was."

"So the reason you're always reading in class is because you want to annoy Miss Orimura?" asked McKenna.

"Goodness no. Not at all. I annoyed my teachers in England because they weren't teaching anything worth learning. For example, our history textbook actually qualified as a historical relic. World History, circa 2007. Teaching history classes with a history book printed before any of the students using it were even born is silly beyond all measure."

"So what's your excuse for doing it now?"

"Honestly? Simple boredom."

McKenna glared at the English blonde with narrowed eyes, "So because you're bored, you keep getting us assigned extra homework?"

"That only happened once…"

"And it'll happen again if you keep this up. I don't want to write an essay on the Jungle Book. I've only seen the Disney Cartoon back when I was like six or something."

"You're reading the Jungle Book?" asked Jennifer with a curious gaze on Josephine.

"Indeed I am."

"Why?"

"Why not? It's a good book."

"I seriously don't get it. What's intelligent about the Jungle Book? It's all about talking animals and stuff isn't it?"

"It's so much more than that Jennifer," she replied while pulling the blue hard covered book out of her bag. "Here, why don't you give it a read, then we can talk about it."

"Aren't you still reading it?'

"Please! For the love of God! _**TAKE IT!**_ You'll be saving us all from Miss Orimura's wrath!" exclaimed McKenna with big pleading eyes.

"Fine… What's the harm?" answered Jennifer while taking the book from Josephine.

"You might get in trouble with your teacher for reading in class?"

Jennifer made a show of rubbing her cheek for McKenna. "I grew up in a country where you have to check your shoes for snakes before putting them on. Do you honestly think that scares me?"

The Australian then stretched out her left arm to show off two puncture marks on her forearm. "See this here? Tiger Snake. I'm not even sure I can find words to describe how painful this was. Took almost an hour for the Ambo to get out to us and start giving me the anti-venom. I'm not going to show you my right leg, but I've been stung by dozens of bloody jack-jumpers. Grow up in a place where literally everything is out to get you, you either stop living in fear of things, or you commit suicide."

"Or you could just stay inside?" offered McKenna.

"Yer shit outta luck if you think staying inside will keep ya safe. We have tiny snakes that like to hide in shoes, venomous spiders that hide under toilet seats, jumping ants with venomous stings, diseased mosquitoes…"

"Is there anything in Australia that isn't trying to kill you?" asked Tatenashi.

Jennifer put a hand to her chin to consider that, "Not really. Even Wombats, the cutest things on the face of the Earth can be vicious when you get near them. But Wallabies, they're amazingly friendly. I have a pet Wallaby named Audi. They can be very mischievous and do require constant attention though."

"And you left the thing at home with your parents? I bet they're thrilled," remarked McKenna.

"Yeah. They hate poor Audi. But my sister loves him to bits and he's always cuddling up with her. Where my sister and I are concerned, Audi is very gentle, very careful, and very friendly. He's like my baby in a lot of ways. I even carry him around in a pouch over my belly when he needs to go to a vet or something. So they don't dare get rid of him while I'm away. My sister would be upset, and I would go on a rampage!"

"Adorable!" exclaimed Tatenashi and McKenna.

"Why'd you call it Audi?" asked Josephine.

"Oh. He was very little when I found him, and he was jumping all over this guy's expensive car and he couldn't get it off. The car happened to be an Audi. So ten minutes and a few thousand dollars in damage to his car later, I managed to catch him, and then brought him home with me. When he's left alone, that's when he gets up to mischief. But I found that if I left the TV on, he'd think there's still people in the house and behave himself. So it's not too much trouble."

"That's so cute!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

"What about all of you? Any pets?"

Josephine shook her head, "No. I love animals, but unfortunately, for various reasons, we couldn't keep a pet."

McKenna nodded, "I have a cat named Radley. I wish I could have brought him with me, but my parents don't mind looking after him. He's the laziest of lazy cats, so he can't even be bothered to get into trouble. But sometimes I like to bring him outside with me, and he'll follow me around and get some exercise. In the winter I just put some warm clothes on him and out we go."

Tatenashi smiled brightly, "So cute! I don't have any pets. Wish I could have, but with my family, they never would have allowed it. Just part of a long list of things I missed out on I suppose."

"That sucks… Wonder if they'd let us keep small pets in the dorms? Like Hamsters or something?"

Jennifer shook her head and finger, "No. No way. Not a chance. The dorm supervisors would have your hides. Last year a girl I knew tried to sneak in a pet mouse. It did not go well for her, let me tell you, no no, it was a terrible day for her."

"Speaking of terrible days… I wonder how Maria's handling Latrine Duty?"

"She's on Latrine Duty? What did she do to piss off Miss Orimura?" asked Jennifer.

"Long story…"

* * *

Maria sneezed loudly and then wiped off the toilette she had just finished cleaning again. After that she finished cleaning up the last spot she'd previously thrown up all over.

When she was finished with her job, Maya brought her over to one of the arenas where they sat down in the stands to watch a group of students training. There were three IS frames engaged in advanced maneuver training. From what Maria could discern, they were working on a combination attack sequence together, probably in preparation for a three on three match.

"Do you know who that girl with the orange unit is?" asked Maya.

Maria nodded her head, "Celeste Averoux, Representative Cadet of France, current number one in the rankings, and student council president. Her IS is a Rafale Revive Custom nicknamed the Phoenix. The one standing next to her thinking she's going to get useful advice about whatever modification she's made to her frame is Chiho Akagai, Representative Cadet of Japan and current third ranked student in the Academy, she pilots the Raijin, one of Japan's second generation prototypes. I can't see the third one's face but she's piloting a Custom Curupira, so I'm going to go ahead and guess that she's Isabelle Oliveira, Brazil's Representative Cadet and current number seven in the rankings."

"All correct. Feels like a lifetime ago now, but when I was a Senior, they were all Freshmen. They were in the first class taught by Miss Orimura when she became a teacher here."

"Is that why you brought me here? To watch them train and see what students trained by her are capable of?"

"Well, no. That's not why I brought you here."

"Then why?"

"Well… It's because I booked the Arena for us after them and we're a little early."

Maria raised an eyebrow to the verdant haired woman, "You want to fight me?"

"Well… You did say that you ripped off all my moves. So I'm curious. Why me? I couldn't even break out of being a Representative Contender. I couldn't even break into the top ten."

"You fought with your brains. Of all the pilots I studied, you stood out the most to me for how you set your opponents up to fail."

"It didn't always work."

"No. But it was the creativity I admired. You were an artist. You probably could have won a lot more if you changed your style. You could have gone all the way aggressive and decimated everyone. But you didn't. Why?"

"Well… Because it wasn't who I was. I wanted to be true to myself more than I wanted to win."

Maria leaned back until she was propped up on her elbows. "That sounds like what I expected of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that you're a very nice lady."

"Thank you. I think?"

"It was a compliment. Contrary to what you may have seen or heard, I'm not _always_ a complete bitch."

"That's good to know. Looks like they're almost done down there. Shall we go suit up?"

Maria stood up and stretched out with a loud yawn before answering, "Yes. Let's do it. It's not everyday you get to fight your hero."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it…"

"Oh I'm sorry! Did you want me to gush like a rabid fan girl? We could rewind and I could do that for you?"

"Oh no. That won't be necessary."

"Believe me Miss Yamada. I am excited. But if I lose my head, I won't perform. If I don't perform, you won't want go at it with me again."

Maya widened her eyes behind her glasses at the little American, "Miss Cross! You should choose your words more carefully!"

Maria put her hands on her hips and leaned over towards her with an aggressive posture. Her lips curled into a vicious smirk, "My choice of words were spot on. Your interpretation of them on the other hand…"

Maria then held her hands neatly in front of her and looked down at her feet with a big bright blush and spoke again with a very shy and innocent voice, "Oh Miss Yamada… I'm your student... We can't have that kind of relationship…"

"Miss Cross!"

Maria burst into laughter. "You're too easy, you know that?"

* * *

Maria and Maya walked out into the arena from the changing room in their piloting suits. Black and red for Maria, and solid dark gray for Maya.

"Mon Dieu! Is that Maya?" exclaimed Celeste Averoux after spotting the two walking onto the field. She then started running towards the bespectacled woman at full speed.

Maya in turn waved to her, but before she could say anything she was tackle hugged by the petite baby blue haired French girl and barely managed to remain standing. "Maya! Where have you been?!"

"Uhh. It's nice to see you too Miss Averoux. But I'm a teacher here now, so this is a bit inappropriate don't you think?"

"Ferme ta bouche! I have not seen you in two years! Oh I have missed you so much mon amie!"

"Maya-chan!" exclaimed another Japanese girl with long black hair in a hime-cut and violet colored eyes who then joined them in a group hug.

"I'm a teacher now! You can't do this!" exclaimed Maya in a pleading voice.

"Urusai! We missed you Maya-chan!"

Finally the two girls let her go and Maya quickly started stretching her arms as if enjoying her new found ability to do so after the tight embraces she received.

"Kawaii! You cut your hair! I love it!" exclaimed Chiho.

"Oh! You did cut your hair! Très adorable! So you're a teacher now? Where have you been since you graduated?"

Maya shrugged her shoulders, "After graduation I went traveling. I went around Europe, then Africa, and then Central America."

"Très bien! Then what?"

"Well, then I came back home and… did a lot of nothing."

"How did you become a teacher here?" asked Chiho.

"Well… That's a long story…" answered a shy Maya while scratching the back of her head.

"Is this one of your students?" asked Celeste while turning her eyes on Maria.

The two carefully eyed each other over. They each had similar petite bodies and were the same height, until they locked eyes. Celeste's eyes were the color of gold, while Maria's were the color of blood. The French girl had baby blue hair the same length as Maria's, but her hair was clean and straight and she even had some of her hair tied up into pigtails on the sides while Maria left her hair to flow as it may in messy clumps.

"Bonjour, je m'appelle Maria Cross."

"An American who speaks French? Impressive. Celeste Averoux. Nice to meet you," she replied with a pleasant smile.

Maria in turn smiled back at the French girl. "I know who you are."

A tense silence fell between the two as they smiled into each other's eyes. Maya and Chiho nervously glanced between the two petite girls. Though everything seemed pleasant between them, it was actually a chilling moment in which it felt like two ravenous predators were challenging each other for dominance.

"I think I know why Maya is interested in you Maria. I will be expecting great things from you," she said before turning back to face the green haired woman. "Congratulations on your new position Maya. I wish you good fortune!"

"Thank you Celeste. I'll try not to disappoint," Maya awkwardly replied before Celeste and Chiho walked away from them.

* * *

A short time later, Maya and Maria were facing off in the center of the arena. Maya had a bulky army green IS frame while Maria stood with the Meteor activated. Once they were both in the center of the field they took a moment to assess one another.

"Rafale Revive, with an assault package. Functionally similar to your old Enenra but without the optical camouflage system. Speaking of which, what happened to your old IS? That thing was badass!"

"Well… I don't actually know. They probably scrapped the frame and put the core into another IS. I try not to think about it."

Maria gave a slow nod of her head, "I'll try to appreciate my time with the Meteor even more then."

"That would be my advice as well. Shall we get started?"

"Yes ma'am!" declared Maria before spreading the wings of her IS. Then then engaged the thrusters in her feet to hover with the wings providing balance thrust.

She reached around behind her and pulled out the beam rifle from its holder on her lower back while Maya materialized a large rifle of her own.

The two began rapidly encircling each other and soon they started trading shots from a high powered ballistic sniper rifle and a high powered charged particle beam rifle. The Meteor's speed and agility advantage became obvious to Maya as the American flew rings around her Rafale Revive.

After failing to land a single hit, Maria put away her rifle and then reached over to her right hip to draw her sword.

Maya studied her opponent carefully as she ignited the energy blade of what turned out to be an enormous buster sword. The hilt had a crossguard section which projected the triangular purple blade with a sharp point on the end. In response she dematerialized her rifle and in her left arm she materialized a large physical shield to prepare for close combat.

Maria held the Ascalon sword firmly in her left hand while her wings articulated, suddenly she rapidly closed the distance, slashing at her twice with the sword and scoring two good hits.

The verdant haired instructor noted that her shield energy had suffered much more than she expected from the strikes. From six hundred units she was cut down to five hundred.

But instead of panicking, Maya calmly brought her right arm up and used her own winged thrusters to reposition herself to block the left handed strike with her physical shield. But the shield paid a heavy price for taking the impact for her. She couldn't rely on it to block that sword, the single strike left a wide gash in the bulwark and let her know in no uncertain terms that this student was packing very dangerous weapons.

She had to counter attack, and counter hard. In response to the sword strike she blocked, she pushed in aggressively and hit her opponent with the large, bulky, piston powered shield piercing pile bunker which was stored under the shield. The intensity of the blow knocked Maria back away from her. Maya then materialized a grenade launcher in her off hand and fired at the student.

Maria narrowed her eyes and in a rapid blur she moved out of the grenade's path and then rapidly closed the distance again.

"I like your pile bunker! Lemmie show you mine!" exclaimed Maria as she brought her right arm towards Maya. The heavy forearm panel opened and revealed a hole under it, as she punched the bespectacled woman her own pile bunker shot out from inside her forearm and struck her opponent hard.

Maya narrowed her eyes and tensed up as she lost another good fifty points of shield energy. Concluding that either she was rustier than she thought, or Maria Cross was just this good.

Either way, she had to start taking her very seriously. She also now understood exactly why Chifuyu Orimura authorized her to take out an IS and put the troublesome student through the paces.

She put the Rafale's foot up on Maria's chest and kicked herself away, giving herself just enough room to evade when the American tried to close in an re-engage. Not wasting a moment, she reversed away from the Meteor and replaced her grenade launcher with her sniper rifle, scoring three good hits before Maria could properly begin to evade again.

Her heart started thumping in her chest, and her face morphed into a wide smile as Maria came in to close the distance again. It was like coming back to life after being all but dead. She lead the American through an invigorating chase around the arena in reverse while shooting at her. Like riding a bicycle, she felt her combat instincts reawakening.

Maria had a sadistic grin on her face while she used her forearm to block a few of the shots, this focused her shield and drained less power per hit she absorbed. Once she slowed enough to give herself more room to fly evasively she drew out one of twin Flash-edge beam boomerangs and hurled it at the teacher. Maya used her rifle to shoot it down which gave Maria the opportunity to rapidly close the distance with an ignition boost and strike her with the giant energy sword.

The instructor raised her shield to block the attack but because of the Meteor's immense engine power the Rafale couldn't hold its position or push back so the pair ended up slamming down onto the arena floor.

Maya ended up laying flat on the ground with Maria standing over her, her sword pressing against her defense barrier. With her physical shield having been shattered, there was nothing she could do but accept defeat. Finally the Rafale's power was completely drained.

Maria quickly deactivated the sword before offering out a helping hand to her instructor.

"I see what you mean about you ripping off my moves. That was an amazing use of tactics Miss Cross!" she exclaimed happily while accepting the student's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up to her feet.

"You should probably look into adding some close combat weapons to that Rafale. My Meteor's name isn't just supposed to sound cool. The Ascalon hits like a freight train and it's the fastest IS in the world right now. There's no way you, or anyone could maintain range against me."

"Indeed, and then, I'll definitely want a rematch!"

"You're on! You were awesome!"

"Thank you. But what about you?! I've never seen a pilot with reflexes and situational awareness like you!

"What can I say? I had a good teacher. My instructors taught me the basics, but my tactics, that's all you. I watched every one of your videos that I could get my hands on to learn how you did what you did."

"You obviously learned well," answered Maya who was beaming a bright smile at her student. "You set up for your attacks, and you fully commit. That's unfortunately something I couldn't always do myself. I have a bad habit of second guessing."

"I noticed that. But I feel like I only won this match because of my superior IS, which personally, I don't consider a real win. But you, every time you lost, you could have won if you just stuck to your guns, so to speak. There was never anything wrong with your strategy. So what was it that made you hesitate like you did?"

Maya put the mechanical hand to her chin as she considered the question. "If you want an honest answer Miss Cross. It was because I was afraid. You see, I have a tendency to be a bit clumsy…"

"Yeah. I noticed you crashed a lot. I kinda do that myself. If you're going to be pushing an IS like the Meteor right to the bleeding edge, it kinda comes with the territory."

Maya's playful expression suddenly evaporated, her face and tone turned deadly serious as she addressed her student, "And that honestly scares me as well Miss Cross… The Enenra was a fast IS too, and I slammed into things all the time because I couldn't keep my turns tight enough. Or I'd see an opportunity to do what you did to me and close the gap for a finishing move, they'd dodge, and I'd slam into something. Like what Miss Williams did to you during your battle with her. But you didn't do any of that just now. You're so much faster than anything I've ever seen before, but you're also in perfect control while being all the way aggressive."

"What's your point?" asked Maria with a curious eye on her teacher.

"That if I didn't know any better, I'd think you weren't human."

"I suppose it depends on what you think it means to be human…"

"I'm not sure I understand?" asked a puzzled Maya.

"I'm not sure myself. The only thing I know for sure is that the only real monsters in this world are the ones we make for ourselves."

"Miss Cross… Are you saying that you think you're a monster?"

"I don't know…" answered Maria while reverting her IS to the silver crucifix around her neck. When she landed she looked down at her feet and smiled, "Heh. That's amazing. My shoes didn't get destroyed. Guess these are my lucky shoes now!"

Maya then reverted her IS to its stand by form, a thick green bracelet on her left wrist.

The American widened her eyes. "They gave you that Revive as a personal IS?"

Maya smiled sheepishly at her student, "Umm, yes. Miss Orimura decided I should have one since we have three contenders in our class and it would be useful."

"You put up that much of a fight and you haven't even gotten it into the first shift yet?!"

Maya shamefully nodded her head, "I just got it today and sort of hoped I could get it to shift during that fight. But I guess I'll need to put more effort into it."

"I can't believe you fought that battle with your IS in the preset configuration… I'm glad you're my teacher!"

"And I'd love to continue being your teacher Miss Cross. But, the way you've been acting, I'm worried that Miss Orimura won't have any choice but to expel you if you keep going as you have been. If you get expelled, you'll not only lose your shot as a Representative Contender, you'll lose the Meteor. You don't want that do you?"

"Of course not!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"The truth?"

"Yes!"

Maria used her left hand to take a hold of her crucifix. "I don't wear this just because it's my IS now. I don't wear it because I'm a good Christian either. I don't even wear it for the irony of my family name. I wear this, I chose this as the stand by form to remind me of what made me the way I am. Of the things which lead me to end up where I did, and to remind me of what I had to endure to get to where I am now."

"Could you elaborate?"

Maria shook her head, "I wish I could. If there's anyone in this world I'd want to tell it all to, it's you. Like I said on your first day, you're my hero. But I can't. It's not because I don't want to, because I do. But because I really can't."

"Are you not allowed to?"

Maria shook her head, "No. I'm not allowed to. But even if I was. It wouldn't make a difference. I am what I am. I am who I am. I told a little bit to Josephine because I owed her. But I'm not ready to open up like that again just yet. But even if I were, my background and circumstances shouldn't change how anyone sees me. If you want to teach me, then teach me. If you want to be my friend, then be my friend. If not, then don't."

"I have no idea if I can do either of things very well but-"

"The way those girls were all over you earlier says you must have done something right."

Maya giggled at that statement, "Yeah. I suppose. I'll do my best for you, and for everyone else Miss Cross. But, I have to be honest with you. You need to make an effort as well. You can't mouth off at everyone you don't like, and you certainly can't say the worst possible thing to them every chance you get. I'm referring to Miss Arad here."

"Alright then. I'll try to keep a lid on the trash talk."

"That's good. Also, if it's not too much trouble, could you maybe not glue people's shoes to their lockers or make so much noise in your dorm? I'd really appreciate that."

Maria nodded, "Alright. I won't do either of those things anymore. Only because it's you asking, and I can't say no to you. But in exchange, may I ask a small favor of you?"

"Depends on what it is. But you can ask."

"Well… I'd like to learn Japanese, do you think you could teach me to read and write?"

"It's not an easy language to teach, or to learn, I hope you know that, and I'm not exactly qualified to- Hrrmmm… I'll give it a try."

"I'm a fast learner. I won't embarrass you."

"Alright. Once your suspension is over, we can spend an hour a day after classes in the library and I can try to teach you."

"I appreciate that Miss Yamada. Thank you very much!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

" **When did it all spin out?"**

* * *

"So how's your suspension going?" asked McKenna from the dorm kitchen.

"I'm pretty sure you're the first student to ever get suspended in the second week," remarked a snickering Tatenashi.

"Laugh it up... It's been disgusting! Miss Orimura has me cleaning toilets..." answered Maria before dry vomiting. "Uuugh... Please change the subject..."

Mayuzumi shook her head disapprovingly while addressing the American in a hard and judgmental tone, "What's with you? Too good to scrub a bathroom? Do you make Tremblay and Williams clean up after you here in the dorm? Did you never do any cleaning in your house? Were you the kind of spoiled girl who let her mother or siblings do the dirty chores? I'll bet you did let your mother do all the-"

Josephine quickly covered the Japanese girl's mouth. "Shhhhut up!"

"It's fine Josie. You think I can dish out half the shit I say without being able to take it in turn? I'm a germaphobe. That's all there is to that. I actually have no problem cleaning up the dorm at all. In fact, I feel better if I do it myself because then I know every last microbe in this space will die horribly."

"It's true. She cleans so well our bathroom makes an operating room look like a sewer. You can take a dump in there and come out feeling cleaner than when you went in," remarked McKenna while stirring her pot.

Maria turned a hateful glare on the bespectacled girl, "But don't even think about it, Kitty! You put your dirty ass down on our porcelain throne, I'll chop you up and flush you down along with your shit!"

"Don't call me Kitty!"

"Are you wearing Hello Kitty lingerie right now?" asked Maria while staring deep into Mayuzumi's eyes with a suggestive smirk on her lips.

Her cheeks turned slightly red. "Shut up! That's not what we're talking about!"

Tatenashi waved a finger at the little raven-haired girl, "That's not very nice Maria. There's nothing wrong with Hello Kitty. Also, her shit isn't any different from yours, mine, Josephine's, or Kenny's."

"As far as I'm concerned, Kenny and Josie piss honey and shit glitter."

Josephine palmed her face, "I can't believe what I'm hearing..."

"I have this really flamboyant gay friend. He's so totally awesome, always tells the best jokes, real life of the party kind of guy. Anyway. He told me about this stuff he ordered online that you can put in your food... and then it'll make your poop all glittery after!" remarked Tatenashi.

Josephine face planted into the table, "Tatenashi? Have you forgotten that we all agreed that you'd end all your stories a sentence earlier?"

"Dinner's almost ready. Would you all mind setting the table?" asked McKenna.

Josephine quickly stood up to get plates while the others cleared the table of their textbooks and homework. "The only explanation for this is that I've crossed into another reality, one where glitter and fecal matter are considered acceptable topics for pre-meal discourse..."

Maria started cracking up in response. "Haha! The way you say things, Josie... Hahaha! That's why I love you so damn much! Your legendary vocabulary combined with your posh accent is so damn sexy!"

"Much like how McKenna must continuously remind Tatenashi, I too must impress upon you that I am not gay."

Mayuzumi turned a hateful glare on Maria, "You're a lesbian?!"

"So what if I am?"

"You looked up my skirt! Now I feel even more violated!"

"If you want my expert opinion, the Hello Kitty lingerie really does improve your lackluster sex appeal. That and the glasses. Glasses are sexy. I love girls with glasses."

"One day Cross... You're going to get what you deserve, and I will be there to see it!"

"The number of people waiting to see that could sell out entire stadiums. Assuming you can afford the ticket."

Tatenashi started laughing maniacally. "Ahhhh-hahaha! Your arrogance is amazing! Seriously! Just amazing! I love it!"

"Good! Can't let Josie keep the spotlight for her posh accent and vocab!"

Josephine sighed with disappointment, "Tatenashi. I am now imposing two rules upon you. The first is to always end your stories a sentence before the end, and the second is to never praise Maria like that."

"Why not?" asked Tatenashi. "She's a freaking awesome badass bitch!"

Maria beamed a happy smile at the bluenette, "Thank you!"

"When a dog dumps on the carpet do you pat its head and call it a genius?" asked McKenna while setting down a plate in front of Tatenashi. "No! You smack it in the nose with a newspaper!"

Mayuzumi pushed up her glasses and shook her head while McKenna set a plat down in front of her, "Sorry to poke a hole in your logic… But dogs can learn things, she can't!"

* * *

That night, Mayuzumi was discreetly speaking to Daniella Arad behind the dorm building.

"Cross is afraid of germs. Miss Orimura made her clean the public bathrooms around the campus as part of her punishment and just talking about it made her want to throw up... She might also have some kind of troubled past. When I started getting angry with her for being disgusted at cleaning the bathrooms Williams covered my mouth and told me to shut up. Whatever I was saying, she was afraid would deeply hurt her. I don't know the specifics though. But I did find out that she's a lesbian if that helps anything," explained Mayuzumi.

"It does help. It helps a lot. That's very useful information. What were you saying to her?"

"I don't remember exactly, but the point I was making was that she was the kind of spoiled girl who let her parents or siblings do the dirty chores. That was when Williams made me be quiet."

"Must be something to do with her parents then, or maybe a sibling? Hmm. Keep your ears open for more. So that's two down. What about the Canadian?"

Mayuzumi shook her head, "Still nothing useful there. But there's one more thing about Cross. She doesn't actually get any money from her government. She took a part-time job at some pizza place in the city. They invited me to eat with them there."

"She doesn't get paid? Representatives have salaries, sponsorships, endorsement deals! That doesn't make any sense!"

"That's what she said anyway. She might be lying, but she doesn't seem the type to tell lies like that. She didn't even try to hide that she's gay."

"It's 2024, she shouldn't need to hide it. But I might be able to use it anyway. I'll keep it in mind. You keep digging until you strike gold on Tremblay."

"No! If you want to go after Cross, I'll help you do that. But Tremblay hasn't done anything bad to anyone!"

"I'm sorry? Which part of our relationship implies we're equals? I tell you what to do, and you do it, or I burn you along with them. Do you understand? Because I won't warn you again! I have too much riding on this for you to mess up now!"

* * *

McKenna was pretending to be asleep. But under her covers, she was exchanging texts with her boyfriend while simultaneously reading through the latest social media posts from Maria's old classmates. She was looking for one of them in particular who hadn't posted anything since she asked people to stop talking about Maria two years ago. Someone who was apparently Maria's ex-girlfriend.

The good thing about Josephine insisting on the lights being on was that she could easily get away with this without the telltale glow of her phone's screen giving her away in the darkness.

It took a lot longer than she anticipated, but she managed to find a trail of mentions which lead her to a username which she suspected might be the person she was looking for. By now it was getting very late, so she sent the friend request and waited patiently. To pass time, she started listening to Maria and Josephine.

Josephine meanwhile was watching from her bed while Maria played on her laptop. "Still enjoying the game?" she asked the little American.

"Yeah. This PvP stuff is stupidly fun. Some of these people keep calling me a cheater. Guess it's because I'm so spot on with interrupting the healer's casting."

Josephine stood up and went over towards Maria where she looked over her shoulder at what she was doing.

"Did you think I was actually cheating somehow?"

"No. That's not it. I just hate people like you when I play PvP because I play a healer. But seriously Maria, how in god's name are you so fast? Their cast bars just appear and vanish so quickly that if I blink I'll miss it. You're also using your charge to interrupt the second healer... Now the Force Choke... My god... It's like watching my worst nightmare. You're DPSing faster than they can heal themselves because of how spot on you are with the interrupts on their big heals."

"I'd have them both down if my so-called 'teammates' could use their interrupts too. They're getting too many heals in because of my cool-downs. So annoying..."

"If you had better gear, I'm fairly certain you wouldn't need any teammates..."

"Doubt it. I can't solo this many players at once... By the time my 'teammates' get here, they'll take the gun turret... Arrrg! Fuck them! Fuck them a lot! Lazy turds are letting me do all the hard work here..."

"I wish you had your own computer. I would use one of my Imperial characters to be your pocket healer."

"You have a Sith character too?"

"Indeed I do. I've leveled all eight classes for the achievement. That's why you have the gold emblem beside your name there."

"Ahh. So that's what that is. Guess that's why I got accused of stealing an account when I got killed by a boss earlier. In retrospect, it was easy to figure out once I knew what was up."

"All PvE content is like that. Do it once or twice and you'll know the tactics by heart. But seriously... How are you so damn fast with the tab targeting and key binds?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Force is strong with me!"

"That would seem to be the case..." she muttered while her phone vibrated.

"Did you find a boyfriend or something? You've been messaging more than Kenny this week."

"Just a friend. I met her at the bookstore last weekend. We've been chatting about the Three Musketeers."

"Good times! Glad you've got someone to talk to about stuff you like."

"I have you for gaming, and her for literature. I suppose I'm content with that arrangement," she replied while typing into her phone.

"I'm happy for you..."

"What about you? I think part of your problem is that you're not getting enough fulfillment. If you can't join the music club, might I suggest finding another outlet for your musical abilities?"

"Like what? Street performance?"

"Nothing wrong with that. You play and sing so well that busking could probably supplement your income with whatever people throw into your guitar case."

"Yeah... That feels too much like begging for change."

"A lot of people do that just because it's fun. If you don't want people throwing change at you, then just keep your guitar case closed or something."

"Maybe I'll ask Lorenzo if he wants some live music in the evenings... I could maybe get a band together for that? Learn some Italian songs maybe?"

"That's certainly worth looking at, and I would definitely encourage you to try."

"You shouldn't put any stock in me, Josie. I'm a bad investment. I'm pretty sure some of my instructors said that about me in the past, and they were probably right."

Josephine reached out to gently stroke her black hair. "I just want you to be happy. Even you deserve some of that."

"Keep petting me like a dog and I'll start behaving like a dog. I'll even hump your leg."

"Must you ruin everything?"

"Pretty much. Yeah. You want a turn to play? I'm gonna watch some cartoons."

"Alright."

Maria stood up and Josephine sat down at the computer. Maria then sat down at the foot of the English girl's bed and clicked the remote to turn on the TV.

"Bullshit aside for only a moment... I appreciate that you care about me, Josie. It means a lot. Even if I suck at saying it. Thank you."

"I don't expect a Shakespearean articulation of your appreciation Maria. That was more than sufficient, and you are very welcome."

McKenna turned off the screen on her phone which she had hidden under the blanket and then raised her voice. "Could you both just for ONE night keep it down?!"

"Sorry aboot that," said Maria.

"Aboot? I'll give you 'aboot' in your _**ass**_ if you don't turn down your volume!"

"I said I'm sorry! Sheeesh!"

"I apologize as well, McKenna. I'll keep it down."

McKenna then looked down under her blanket and turned the phone screen back on when she felt the phone vibrate.

 **Swaysaligo:**

 _Who are you?_

 **CA_ArmoredHeart_YT:**

 _Sorry to bother you. My name is McKenna Tremblay. Are you Sandra Scott? I'd like to talk to you about a mutual friend._

 **Swaysaligo:**

 _How did you know my name?! Who are you?!_

 **CA_ArmoredHeart_YT:**

 _I told you who I am. I'm a student at the IS Academy in Japan. Click my profile and check out my social media if you want to know more. Anyway. I want to ask you some questions about Maria Cross. She's my roommate here._

 **Swaysaligo:**

 _You obviously don't know Maria if you think she'd ever be an IS pilot. This is so dumb. Just go away! I'm so sick of you people! Just get a life and leave me alone and let me get on with my life!_

 **CA_ArmoredHeart_YT:**

 _I can prove it. Just a moment._

McKenna turned over in her bed and moved her phone to the side of her bunk, with her eye on the screen she slowly tilted it down until she had a picture of Maria slouching on the floor and staring wide-eyed at whatever anime she was watching.

"Hey, Maria. Look up here," she said to her.

"What's up?" she answered while turning her head to look up and then heard the shutter sound of the camera.

"What're you taking my picture for? If you wanna masturbate just ask me, I'll gladly help you out!"

"This is for when Miss Orimura asks why I'm falling asleep in class… Now can you please turn the TV the fuck down? I'm not telling you to not watch, you can do whatever you want, just let me sleep."

"Fine... Whatever," said Maria while picking up the remote.

McKenna then turned back around and pulled up the covers before she started tapping her phone again.

 **CA_ArmoredHeart_YT sent a file**

 **Swaysaligo:**

 _What kind of sick joke is this? That isn't Maria!_

 **CA_ArmoredHeart_YT:**

 _She lost a lot of weight. But it is her._

 **Swaysaligo has blocked you.**

"Well that was productive…" muttered McKenna under her breath as she closed her eyes to get the two hours of sleep she could potentially have.

* * *

Chifuyu Orimura glared around the classroom at all of her students. "Williams! Are you awake?"

"Yes ma'am," she answered sleepily.

McKenna would have had a laugh with the rest of the class had she been in any better shape herself, but she tried to trade sleep for answers and got shafted. Par for the course when Maria was involved.

"What's your opinion of the Alaska Treaty? Assuming you even have one," Chifuyu asked of Josephine.

"I do ma'am."

"Then tell us."

"Yes ma'am. Ostensibly, the treaty is about keeping dangerous weapons off the battlefield. But in my own opinion, based on my own reading, the treaty attempts to relegate the IS to the level of mere scientific curiosity. This is of course designed with the intention of preserving the status quo of the global military industrial complex, and the profits that come with it."

"Interesting... Back it up with some facts now."

"The limited number of IS cores means that the handful of companies which build frames for those cores are mostly subsidiaries of already established giant defense corporations. With some exceptions of course. These companies take research and development funding from their respective governments and channel it into IS development, among other things. At least in the UK, and the US. So even after the treaty, nothing has really changed in the world after the introduction of the IS. The expenses and losses are socialized, and the profits privatized."

"You sound like a dirty communist when you talk..." muttered Daniella. "So your opinion is a conspiracy theory?"

"It's not a theory. It's a fact. For example, your country has never had to pay for an IS. You get them all from the Americans. Along with billions in military aid, both in cash and in weapons from the US and UK. There's also the fact that you yourself, and others like you get sent here to train as IS pilots because Japan will cover your training expenses so you can graduate and join the IDF for your mandatory service without your government paying a single Shekel for your training."

"Is that you're way of saying Jews are cheap without actually saying it?"

"Hardly. It's just a fact. How you choose to interpret it is up to you. While we're at it, you're also the only country to actually violate the Alaska Treaty by openly using an Infinite Stratos in military combat."

"I'm so sick of that lie. We used an IS in a police action. The Americans and Brits do it all the time! The treaty just says they can't be used in war!"

"I never suggested what they do is acceptable, don't put words in my mouth. But as you said, there is a line. A line which Israel crossed. Your government sent an Israeli marked, American made, and American paid Infinite Stratos into another sovereign nation to attack them. That was a clear act of war. But Israel evaded international retribution because the Americans vetoed a UN security council resolution of condemnation for the attack and blocked the required legal proceeding to determine if the treaty was breached."

"Ma'am? Aren't you going to stop this argument?" asked Mayuzumi.

"Not yet. This is actually interesting and relevant," replied Chifuyu who listened carefully with her arms crossed and a stern look in her eyes.

"We attacked an international terrorist group who were plotting an attack on our country!" yelled Daniella.

Josephine shook her head, "That's your government's position on the matter. But what you, and the orange thing in the White House, call terrorists, others call the legitimate armed forces of a sovereign nation. Then what you call 'plotting an attack' others might call a routine military training exercise. And what you call a 'police action' others consider an act of war. Politics is a door which swings both ways."

"What is wrong with you?! Are you stupid?! Iran is a rogue nation that wants to destroy our whole nation! We have a right to defend ourselves!"

"Not when you aren't being attacked. And not with an Infinite Stratos. Certainly not with a Fang Quake. An IS frame which was very nearly banned from participating in competition because of its classification as a weapon of mass destruction, armed with inhumane weapons banned by several international treaties which the US withdrew from. I believe the units used by the American and Israeli Representative Cadets barely deserve the name because of how many of their weapons were disallowed and had to be removed... And that was what your government used in that so-called police action."

"Alright. Before this gets out of hand. Arad, choose your response carefully because it'll be the last word before I take us back to the topic at hand," interrupted Chifuyu.

"Yes ma'am... All I have to say in response is that anyone who thinks a rogue nation who sponsors terrorism, violates international treaties, and denies my country's right to exist, is someone who doesn't belong in this academy! Miss Josephine Stalin here needs to learn how the real world works!"

"Alright. Williams. Because she made it personal, I'll give you the last word."

"I appreciate it ma'am. But I don't respond to ad-hominem attacks."

"Probably because you have nothing to say about the other stuff!"

"Shut it Arad. You're not going to win a debate like this against someone who was reading The Republic while her classmates were trying to figure out The Cat in the Hat."

"Actually they were reading the Chronicles of Narnia and-"

"Williams... Nobody cares."

"Yes ma'am."

"Tremblay!"

"Yes ma'am!" she exclaimed, doing her best to sound awake and alert.

"Bring us back on topic. The IS threatened to change warfare as we knew it. Since you're into military history. Give us some other examples of things which drastically changed the nature of war and their consequences."

"Yes ma'am. The first example which instantly comes to mind is World War One. The specific examples are numerous but for simplicity's sake I'll pick out a few of the more well-known examples. The most fundamental change came with the introduction of the machine gun. The casualties caused by officers who had no idea how to counter these weapons were horrendous. Another example was the airplane. Nobody had ever used one in a war before that, so nobody really knew what to do with them. The pilots eventually figured it out on their own though,

In the beginning, they were exclusively used for recon missions. Then someone decided he wanted to prevent one from scouting their lines, and the first dogfight happened with the two shooting at each other with their pistols. Then someone decided to try strapping a hunting rifle to his fuselage, and then it escalated from there until the first purpose-built fighter aircraft were put into service."

"Some might argue the introduction of the IS is akin to the introduction of gunpowder. How do you respond to that?"

"I wouldn't go quite that far ma'am. I would compare it to the introduction of mechanized warfare. An IS isn't invulnerable to conventional weaponry, it's just invulnerable to conventional tactics."

"That's an interesting assessment. The Shirokishi incident paints a very different picture. But let's hear your take."

"Well. Just like in the First World War, when faced with a weapon system nobody had ever seen before, nobody had any idea how to combat it. Machine guns gave us trench warfare. Trench Warfare gave us chemical warfare. Then we got mechanized warfare with tanks and airplanes. Then it just kept going. One thing just developed into another faster than anyone could keep up with. When the second world war came about, the tactics had caught up to the technology and you didn't see trenches used on such a wide scale, instead, we saw mechanized warfare come of age with tanks and combat aircraft becoming reliable and effective weapons,

With that, the role of infantry, while still critically important, had changed very drastically. In the case of the IS, the best way to fight an IS is still, and probably always will be, to fight it with another IS. It was the same thing with tanks and fighter planes, you always needed another to fight them until Anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns came about. So it would be a mistake for any pilot to believe that there's no threat from less advanced conventional weapons using unconventional tactics."

"What do you think those tactics might be?" asked Chifuyu.

"I'm not a tactician ma'am. Josephine is the one who thinks about tactics and strategies. All I have is the wisdom of people who have the gift of hindsight, a gift paid for in the blood of countless millions of soldiers shed on countless battlefields in countless conflicts. I think it's just a matter of time before technology catches up. How long before we see tanks equipped with beam weaponry? Right now some would say it's impossible without an IS core to power it, but humans have always had a gift for devising new and interesting ways to kill each other. The anti-IS weapon might be something we've never even considered until we see it with our own eyes."

"Well thought out Tremblay. It seems your useful even when you're only half awake!"

The class snickered at the Canadian's embarrassment.

"Alright Williams, since Tremblay outed you as a tactical genius in addition to your literary genius, how would you take down IS with conventional weaponry?"

"What do I have to work with?"

"Everything you want, except another IS. Hypothetically, if you were asked to take down an IS without using another IS, how would you go about it? Knowing everything you know, and having access to every resource you could want."

"What's my environment? Is this a land, air, or sea battle?"

"Let's pick a place you know. Urban environment. Your hometown."

"I'd never willingly fight a battle somewhere with the possibility of civilian casualties. But if the enemy IS is choosing the battlefield, I would try to determine their objective, and if possible use that to lure them into a location where the IS can't make use of its high mobility. Somewhere with a confined space. Then block the exits with heavy machine gun emplacements. Once I'd have her trapped, I would send in special forces infantry equipped with large caliber automatic weaponry to drain the defense shield and finish it off. I would expect high casualties but the mission could be accomplished by well-trained soldiers who can think on their feet and exploit an IS frame's poor range of motion in extreme close quarters."

"Good plan. Solid plan. But the IS pilot who allows herself to be put in that situation deserves what's coming to her."

"I know. I tried to give you the best answer I could. However, I disagree with the notion that conventional military hardware will ever be a match for an IS. Unless the stars are all in alignment and the IS is being piloted by an incompetent in an environment where the particular model is at a severe disadvantage, it simply isn't feasible to fight an IS without another IS."

Chifuyu turned another hard stare around the classroom, "All warfare, and indeed, everything in life is about identifying and seizing opportunities. If you don't have an opportunity, then you create one. That's how you win wars, and that is how you win at life. Don't forget it!"

" **Yes ma'am!"**

* * *

"Finally trying Japanese food?" asked Tatenashi while setting her tray down at the table beside Josephine.

"It's not the first time I've had it. I've just come to realize it's the safest food to have in this place. If I don't get indigestion later, I'll know I made the correct choice."

"That's probably true. So before Kenny and Mayuzumi get here, I heard a rumor you might be interested in."

Josephine raised a curious eyebrow at the bluenette.

"Rumor has it your class is meeting right now to discuss ways of removing you as class rep. So how did you go from being Josephine Williams to Charles the First?"

"I suspect it has something to do with a debate I had in class with the Israeli girl."

"Lemmie guess, something about politics?"

"Something like that. She couldn't win with words, so she's resorting to this. The interesting thing is Mayuzumi being excluded from their deliberations."

Tatenashi nodded, "Yeah, rumor had it she was their ringleader for a while. Think it has something to do with how much time she's been spending with the lot of us?"

"Us? This has nothing to do with you. It's probably for the best if you refrain from getting mixed up in our little kerfuffle."

Tatenashi shrugged her shoulders, "You're my friends."

"If we lose this little schoolyard tussle, you might need to line up some new friends."

"Nope! I can't see you losing to this. You're too smart for that," Tatenashi then pointed in Josephine's face and winked her ruby eye at her with an encouraging smile on her lips, "Be as confident in yourself as I am in you!"

"Don't overestimate me."

"No! You don't underestimate you!"

Josephine looked up to see one of the other Representative Contenders passing by while giving Tatenashi the dirtiest of dirty looks. She didn't know her name, just her rather distinctive feature.

Tatenashi nodded when Josephine looked at her for an explanation. "Yeah. You're pretty much the only friends I have here. Maria isn't the only one with a history of upsetting future classmates."

"That begs an explanation…"

"Another time. Right now, I'm way too hungry! Itadakimasu!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Maria ran out of another public bathroom and threw up in some bushes just outside of it. "So much for lunch..." she mumbled before hurling again.

"How did you get to be like this? I've never seen anyone so averse to this sort of thing," asked Maya.

"Guess I'd better clean up my act. I'd make a lousy maid," replied Maria.

"I'm sure there's a lot you could do if the academy doesn't work out for you."

"It was a rhetorical statement... I have no intention of flunking out."

"That's the spirit!"

"You know you really don't have to supervise me. I've done my job every day as ordered. I hate feeling like you're wasting your time because of me."

"You're not a waste of my time Miss Cross. Not at all. Now tell me honestly, what's causing you to get sick like this?"

"It's just the way I am. Now if you'll excuse me..." she said before taking a very deep breath. "Everything must be cleaned until it's very clean. Then it's practical training time... Then I gotta go take a long shower and clean myself up before work... Then another long shower after work to clean the contaminants off."

"You have a job? Already? Doesn't your government give you a salary?"

"I get asked that a lot. To make a long story short. Yes, they do. But I don't get to touch it," she said while walking off in the direction of the next public restroom.

"Where did you get a job? You don't even speak Japanese?" asked Maya while walking behind her.

"Bianchi's Restaurant and Pizzeria."

"I've heard of it, but I never actually tried it. Now I might make a point to give it a try."

"You should. The food is amazing!"

* * *

Chifuyu stared down the gathered students who awaited her instructions for their practical training.

"Today we're working on the next phase of the basic controls. Tremblay!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"You're up. I want you to demonstrate the proper skating technique. One lap around the arena."

"Yes ma'am!"

McKenna ran out of the group and activated her heavy IS while in motion before she started skating around the arena on the thrusters in her feet.

"On paper, the Uchigane has superior mobility to the Vimy Glide, but because Tremblay is capable of skating better than even I can, she was able to maneuver that bulky unit just as well as I could move the Uchigane. So the takeaway from our fight was that good skating technique is essential in close quarters combat."

"I thought the takeaway was that you lost your edge and almost lost to a first-year student..." muttered Daniella.

"Can't accept that Kenny is a prodigy?" asked Maria.

"What are you even doing back here? Weren't you suspended?"

"I was bored and someone's gotta show you how this IS stuff is done."

"Fuck you."

"Fuck _**you!**_ "

"Arad. Cross. Is there a problem?" demanded Chifuyu.

"Yes ma'am!" exclaimed Daniella. "How does skating help in IS combat? Your opponent can just take flight and shoot you from above. All effective IS combat is air to air."

Chifuyu narrowed her eyes. "Cross. Do you agree with her theory?"

"No ma'am. I think she's an idiot."

"I agree. Get out there and take flight. Tremblay! Prepare for surface to air combat."

"Yes ma'am!" answered a grinning McKenna. "Load fragmentation rounds!"

"Everyone else, get behind the shields!"

* * *

It was now Friday night and Maria was working her first dinner rush at the restaurant. Meanwhile, Josephine, McKenna, Tatenashi, Jennifer, and Mayuzumi all sat around a table sipping drinks and waiting for their dinner while Maria moved around taking orders and serving the various customers.

"Good evening. May I take your order?" she asked a young couple who were so painfully obviously her fellow Americans.

"Oh! You're American? Ouch. What happened to your head?" he asked while looking at the bandage around her forehead.

"I tried to jump the border into Canada. So do you know what you want or should I come back later?"

"Testy..." muttered the young man.

"I don't know about these salads here... Think I can get a plain green with low-fat dressing?" asked the young woman.

"And for me, I'd like a Hawaiian Pizza. Can't find it on the menu though... Is this even in English?"

Maria jotted something in her notepad, "Uh-huh. Alright. So that's a green salad with low-fat dressing for the lady and a pineapple pizza for the gentleman."

"Yes. We'd also like some wine, please. What can you recommend?"

"Dude. I'm fifteen, what the fuck do you think I know about wine? All I know is that you're not in fucking Kansas anymore, here in the _**real**_ world, _pineapple_ does _**not**_ go on pizza! As for you bitch! Nothing we serve here is low fat, and low fat won't help your fucking whale ass, you need to get out of here, and go to a gym! Now either find something you like on the menu or get the fuck out. There are people outside waiting for a table."

Josephine palmed her face as the American couple started yelling at Maria who in turn started yelling back.

Tatenashi rolled her eyes at the display, "Now counting the seconds until she gets fired..."

McKenna nodded in agreement while filming the scene on her phone, "Achievement Unlocked: Customer Service Fail."

" **Hey!** Stai zitto! Maria? Que cazzo?!"

Maria showed her notepad to Lorenzo while the Americans explained themselves.

" **Testa di cazzo!** You want pineapple in the pizza?! There is Fish and Chips across the street and Pizza Hut is in the shopping mall! _**Vaffanculo!**_ " yelled Lorenzo while shooing the Americans out of their seats and then out of his establishment, accompanied by the applause of the other clientele while Josephine, McKenna, Tatenashi, Jennifer, and Mayuzumi all stared on with slack jaws.

"That did not just happen..." remarked an astounded McKenna.

"Oh but it did... That's all we need. Someone who not only encourages Maria, but sets the worst possible example for her..." replied Josephine while swirling some red wine around in her glass.

"There's no helping it. Must be an Italian thing," added Jennifer before sipping from her own wine glass.

Josephine took a sip of her wine before setting down the glass with a sigh, "Perhaps we should have had dinner somewhere else? I must confess I do feel a tad guilty for eating here while Maria is working and watching us eat."

"The way I see it, if we have a friend working here, there's nowhere else we should eat. Why give our money to someplace else?" replied Tatenashi.

"Besides, the food here is freaking unbelievably amazing!" added McKenna while typing on her phone.

Mayuzumi shook her head, "You say that, but I'm sure Cross is going to spit in my pasta..."

Tatenashi winked at the bespectacled girl, "Nothing worth doing in life is risk-free!"

"And here's another question... How is this place still in business if incidents like that are not just tolerated but encouraged?! This is Japan!"

"Most of the customers here are all foreigners. So I guess they find it normal."

"It isn't normal. At least not in England. Unless you go to a pub during a football match and cheer for the wrong team," added Josephine.

McKenna snickered, "You're perfectly safe in a Canadian Hockey Bar. You can cheer for any team you like. As long as they're Canadian. Cheer on an American team and you're gonna get a hockey stick up your butt."

"You've been messaging a lot these last few days. Did you make up with your boyfriend?" asked Mayuzumi.

"Uhh, yeah. A while ago actually. I just didn't want to make a big deal."

"I'm insanely jealous! Do you have a picture of him? He'd better be the sexiest man alive if he-"

Tatenashi put a finger to her mouth as she gazed at the picture on the phone McKenna was holding up to her face. "Well. I'll give him that. He's stupidly hot. How old is he?"

"He's older than us..." she answered back in a cryptic tone.

"McKenna... How old is he?" asked Josephine in a more stern tone.

"Turning nineteen next week..."

"Then I suppose it's a good thing you've got the whole Pacific between the two of you or he might end up in jail," Jennifer threw in.

"Don't judge him like that... He's a good guy. Also, I'm at the age of consent. So it's fine."

Josephine slowly nodded her head, "Yes. I'm sure he's a wonderful human being, he's just needy and inconsiderate."

"Can't defend him there... He is needy, and he can be inconsiderate..."

"I guess we can't help who we fall in love with," said Tatenashi with a heavy sigh, "With my luck, the person I eventually fall for will probably be like a freaking harem anime protagonist!"

"Anyone who can win your heart, should be at least that popular," replied Josephine while raising her glass to the bluenette.

"Oh yes. At least. So how about you Josephine? What's your potential lover like?"

"Never gave it much thought. I've honestly yet to meet a boy who inspires any kind of romantic interest in me. As it stands, I see myself being a spinster for life. I'll run for public office and have an army of mysterious ex-lovers I've never seen in my life coming out of the woodwork to denounce me so my political opponents can have ammunition to use against me."

"Such a pessimist..." muttered Jennifer. "Give yourself a little more credit. I can't ever see you getting into politics. You're way too nice to ever fit in with that lot."

Josephine rolled her eyes, "Actually... It is my goal. I want to be the Prime Minister. Not only will I accomplish it, but I'll do it with the clearest mandate in political history as well!"

Jennifer started belly laughing while shakily holding out her wine glass to Josephine, "Ahhhahaha! Then you'd better make it happen! I wanna be able to point at the TV and say 'That's my friend!' when you become Party Leader!"

"If we're still friends on that day, you can be there next to me. I'll make you a policy advisor or something. Just wave at the camera and let everyone who ever picked on you in school fume from the ears," answered Josephine while knocking glasses with the Australian.

"I'll be holding you to that then!"

"Prime Minister Josephine Williams? Looking the way you do people are gonna see you on the TV and mistake you for the queen!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

"Beauty fades. By then I'll be a lot older, and hopefully, smart enough for people to overlook my enormous and comically sagging breasts long enough to hear my political message."

"And what will your message be?" asked Mayuzumi.

McKenna rolled her eyes, "Now we're going to talk about politics again. Had enough of that in class today. I hate politics. I don't want to know about it, I don't want to think about it."

"You come from a military family. You can hate politics, but you more than most should know why they're important," remarked Tatenashi in a chiding tone.

"Sure they're important, but that doesn't mean I need to get involved in it."

"I think you should. You've had a member of your family fight in every conflict Canada's ever been in all the way back to the first world war. Your father and big brother are both tank commanders deployed on the US-Canadian border. Now you're an IS pilot. Quite a family history."

"Two tank commanders in the immediate family? That explains a lot about your IS," remarked Mayuzumi.

"Yeah. I guess. I'm also the only Canadian IS pilot who's in the Army instead of the Air Force."

"But you're not the first pioneering pilot. Your great-grandfather was one of the first World War One fighter pilots. Some say he survived a dogfight with the Red Baron himself."

"Yeah. It's actually true."

While McKenna, Mayuzumi, and Tatenashi all talked about the Tremblay family, Jennifer gently prodded Josephine. "So what is your political message?"

"Release all non-violent offenders from the prisons to make enough room to refill the jails with corrupt bankers, CEOs, and conservative politicians. Stand up against unbridled capitalism. End mass surveillance. Re-nationalize public transportation, nationalize all electrical companies... Dismantle all nuclear weapons, raise the mandatory minimum wage to a living wage, lower the cost of living by repossessing unused houses owned by billionaires and demolishing them to build low-cost housing units. Also bring the UK back into the European Union. And finally, if the Americans are stupid enough to put another Republican in the White House this year, reinstate colonial rule over the New World."

"We're going to vehemently disagree on a lot of your lefty politics. But we do have common ground on that last one we can work from. Down with America!" said a smirking Jennifer while raising her glass to Josephine again.

"I also approve of that last one. _**God save the King!**_ " exclaimed Maria while setting down a large tray with all their food next to the table to start serving.

" **God save the King!"** exclaimed Jennifer, McKenna, and Josephine while raising their glasses again.

"While we're at it, **fuck Trump!** " added Maria with a raised arm and middle finger.

"You know Maria, you must be the first Democrat to be a Representative Contender. Every other American in the Academy is a hardcore Republican," remarked Tatenashi.

"Because they're all spoiled rich girls. But no, I'm not political at all," she answered while setting out meals. "For me, equal rights just means everyone has the right to be hated by me, _equally_."

"How do you split your time between everyone? If you show someone less hate than another you're violating their rights," remarked Mayuzumi.

"Well, for one, I filled a syringe with my saliva to ensure you all got an equal amount of my spit in your meals so nobody would feel left out."

Josephine paused after stabbing her fork into her steak and eyed the meat very carefully, "How considerate of you."

"Enjoy your meals. I'll go fetch a bottle and top up your wine glasses. Mayuzumi and Tatenashi? Care for more sparkling water?"

"Yes please!" exclaimed Tatenashi with a mouthful of her pizza.

"Yes, please..." muttered Mayuzumi.

"Be right back then!"

"Think she was serious about putting equal amounts of her saliva in all our meals?" asked Jennifer.

"Whatever..." answered McKenna after swallowing her pasta. "She's the poster girl for personal hygiene. Even if she did, it's not like it'll make us sick. It's her personality, not her germs that can do that."

Jennifer finally took a bite out of her pizza, "True enough I suppose…"

* * *

After returning to the academy the girls all walked together back to the dorm buildings where Jennifer split off from the group to return to the second year building.

"Hey, Hawkins. Can I have a minute?" she heard someone say to her.

"That depends on who you are and what you want," she replied while turning to see a brown-haired girl with an olive skin complexion walking up to her.

"My name is Daniella Arad. I was hoping to talk to you about Maria Cross. I thought maybe we could help each other."

"I've heard of you. While it's true that you and I have a common enemy, you've also been giving Josephine and McKenna a difficult time, and they're my friends. So no Miss Arad, the enemy of your enemy is not your friend. Now piss off."

"I knew there was a good reason people call you the 'Tasmanian Devil' but there's no need for hostility. What if I offered to leave those two alone?"

"I'd still tell ya to piss off. So piss off."

"And what if I told you I could make you help me? For example, I could tell Miss Orimura about how you sneak out at night to try and climb up the central tower, and then I could-"

Jennifer's sapphire eyes took on a dangerously sharpened edge as she stepped up into the other girl's personal space, silencing her with a momentary feeling of genuine fear as she did not expect that response from her. She'd been told that the Tasmanian Devil would simply stay quiet and take anything thrown at her. She'd even seen it herself, and now she was at a loss for how to turn this back to her advantage.

"Can you fly?" asked Jennifer in the coldest of voices.

"No? What's that go-"

"Well you fuckin' remember that the next time you try to threaten me, because if you don't shut your mouth and walk away, I'm going to pull you up about ten thousand feet in the air, by the hair, and drop you into the sea, and I fuckin' dare ya to test me!"

Arad's face turned red as she scowled at the Australian, she opened her mouth as if about to say something but quickly closed it again before she turned around and started walking away.

"Good decision," muttered Jennifer before she turned around to resume her walk to her own dorm.

When she got close to the door she saw her own reflection in the glass and smiled viciously at herself. "Achievement unlocked… Still got it!"

* * *

The Australian eventually reached her room and swiped her student ID through the door look to let her in. It was a room just like any other in the academy dorms, same layout, same furniture, same everything. The only difference was in the fact that she didn't have anyone to share it with.

She walked into the living area which featured two twin beds, of which only one was used. The same went for the desk space going across the back wall and the two desktop computers built into it. Only one half of the space was used for studies, the other half was a parking space for a large drone and its accessories.

Jennifer sat down on her own bed where she took off her shoes and then kicked them over towards her cabinet, she'd put them away properly later. For now, she had something she desperately wanted to do.

She pulled out her phone and clicked the top of her favorite contact list. She waited patiently while the phone rang, knowing it would take a few moments to answer, she might even have to wait for a call back if the timing was inopportune.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey, Amanda! How are you?" she said cheerfully.

 _"Hey, sis! I'm doing great! It went very well today. Doc says I'm healing nicely and said it was time to start thinking about getting me some mobility, so he showed us this chair I can control with my head."_

"That's great! I'm so happy to hear you're in such high spirits!"

" _You can't keep a Hawk down you know!"_

"Haha. No. You cannot! How's Audi doing?"

" _Great! Mom and Dad have been looking after him properly. I make sure of that."_

"Excellent!"

" _What about you sis? Is everything alright?"_

"Yeah. Everything's just fine here. Would have been better if you were here with me, but I'm managing."

" _Are you sure? You didn't cut your time short with your friends to hurry home and call me or anything like that did you?"_

"You're always my first priority. They wouldn't be my friends if they didn't understand that."

 _"Ya gotta have your own life, sis. You don't have to call me every single night to check up on me you know. I'm a survivor. I'm getting through this just fine. Nothing's ever going to keep me down."_

"I don't call you every night just to check up on you. Yes, I want to know how you're getting on, but that's not the only reason I call. The reason I call you every night because I'm your big sister and I don't take days off from loving you! Do you understand me?"

She heard her sister sniffle on the other end of the line.

 _"Yeah, sis. I understand you. Thank you. That means a lot to me."_

"You're everything to me. Don't forget it."

" _Never!"_

"Good."

" _Do you have a roommate yet?"_

"No. And it suits me just fine. I can do whatever I want and not have to worry about bothering anyone."

" _As long as you're not lonely... What about your friends? How are you doing with them?"_

"Are _you_ checking up on _me_ now?"

" _Yes. I'm still your little sister and it's my job to be worried about you too. The door swings both ways."_

"I suppose it does. But there's nothing to worry about. We're getting along just fine. Had you been here, they actually would have been your classmates… They're good girls. I'll get them to meet you one day."

" _What about her?"_

"Her who?"

" _You know which one."_

"Why are you asking about her?"

" _Because you always dodge the question. I want to know about her. I'm curious. What's she like?"_

"She's a bitch. A full and complete bitch. Maria Cross has zero empathy, zero sympathy, and zero manners. She has a massive superiority complex, and she's a blasphemous heathen who thinks she can fight God himself. You don't need to concern yourself with her. I'm going to take revenge for what she did to you!"

" _I don't want revenge sis… I just want to live. I want you to be happy. I don't want you to be consumed by anger and hate. That's not who you are."_

"Even if it wasn't about revenge, I'd still fight her just because of how horrible she is. She needs to be beaten down and kept down. She's irredeemably evil. Just trust me on that."

" _Just don't become someone you're not. Alright? I need you to keep being the big sister I look up to. I need you to be the big sister I love more than anything. I want you to be happy and successful, not just for yourself, but for me as well. I want you to have twice the fun you would have had on your own because you need to have fun for me too. I want you to climb high, and smile brightly! I want you to live, love, and be the epitome of greatness!"_

Jennifer felt a tear fall down her cheek from her sister's words. She slowly drew in a breath to steady her emotions before responding.

"I promise. I'll do exactly that."

 _"I gotta go now. Mom's been holding the phone for me this whole time and her arm must be getting sore. She needs to get me a Bluetooth earpiece soon because this is getting silly."_

"Haha. Yes, it is. I thought she would have done that by now. Tell you what, I'll buy you one right now and have it delivered to the house."

" _You don't have to do that! Save your money and get yourself something!"_

"It's just money. I'll have a lot of it coming from my sponsors now that the school year is started. Besides, there isn't anything I want. So don't worry about it."

 _"If you insist… I love you, Jenny!"_

"I love you too Mandy. All the best!"

After she hung up the phone she opened up her shopping app and quickly found what she was looking for. She placed the order and then turned off her screen and put the phone away.

Next, she turned her full attention to an itch she desperately wanted to scratch. She reached forward to hit the power button on her PlayStation 5 which was located on the floor under the TV attached to the wall next to her bed and took one of the controllers off its charger and held it ready.

* * *

At the restaurant the next morning, Maria stood by the counter having a discussion with her fellow waitress when the conversation suddenly took a shocking course for the Japanese girl.

"You're a lesbian?!" she asked with wide-eyed horror.

"I'm getting that a lot lately. Is Japan really that homophobic?" asked Maria with a disappointed tone.

"No! Well. Yes, and also no. We have a saying here. 'The nail that sticks out gets beaten down' which means we don't like it when people don't act normal. But that attitude doesn't exactly apply to just being gay. Culturally, there's nothing in our religion or customs which forbids being gay. I don't think anyone cared until Christianity started to spread in Japan. But Christians are a minority so they can't really change the whole society."

"That's interesting. So what's the problem exactly?"

"The problem comes when you have girls acting like boys, or boys acting like girls. Umm, how to say it? You know how some gay people are... hmm, what's the word?"

"Flamboyant? Show offish?"

"I think that's what I'm trying to say. As a society, we value modesty, respect, and conformity. You're fine as you are. If you didn't tell me, I wouldn't have known."

Maria snickered, "I don't exactly dress in cute little dresses or pay too much attention to my hair or whatever. I'm not a girly girl."

"But you're not a tomboy either. You're clean. If that's the right expression?"

"Are you trying to say boys are dirty?"

"Look at Lorenzo? He doesn't shave every day, he smokes like a chimney, he drinks like a fish."

"But he's very well dressed. Always a very a sharp suit. Colors correctly matched. He might not be well groomed, but he's got good hygiene and fashion sense."

"I hope so! He handles the food! He has to be clean!"

"Yeah. Hmm. So, like-"

"Wait. Wait. I have to ask. Do you think I'm attractive?"

Maria took a brief moment to consider the girl standing in front of her. Chiyomi was taller than she was by a good three inches at 5'1 to Maria's 4'8. They both had the same petite body type, but she wasn't athletic or toned at all. Her hair was thick and full, done neatly in two matching tails with cute black ribbons. Her mane was fluffy, and yet also had that Asian coarseness which made it unruly as its length curled naturally at the end of her tails. It was an interesting shade of gray, the color of ash. Her brown eyes had a hard edge to them which Maria approved of, it made her look like exactly the sort of girl you didn't want to piss off, and yet, you really wanted to piss her off because her angry face was just incredibly adorable!

"Well… Umm... Yeah. I do. You're very attractive. But if you're asking if I'd wanna have sex with you the answer would be no."

"Now I'm insulted!"

"Why? Do _you_ want to have sex with me?"

" **No!"**

"Then what's there to be insulted about?"

"Because you don't think I'm desirable!"

"Are you trying to ask me out on a date or something? Because I would date you. I didn't say you were undesirable. I just said I didn't want to have sex with you, we're not there yet in our relationship and-"

" **URUSAI! URUSAI! URUSAI! I don't want to date you or have sex with you!"**

"I think the lady protests too much..." remarked Lorenzo with a wide smirk as he walked up to them.

" **No! I am not gay!** And what are you doing Bianchi! Mind your business!"

Lorenzo looked around, before picking up a menu to stare at, "Hmm... I think this is my name here. I think my name is also on the top of the building. So, could it possibly be that everything inside here is my business?"

"This is our personal conversation!"

"And we have customers. So maybe now is time to work and not flirt?"

Chiyomi glared at him with her face turning bright red.

Maria scratched her head while looking at Chiyomi, "Why do you even care? If you're straight, my opinion of you is irrelevant."

"Because the boy I like doesn't want to date me and I don't know why!"

Maria rolled her eyes, "Trust me. That has nothing to do with your looks," she said while picking up two menus and then started heading outside.

"What's that mean?!"

"It means you're a freak!" exclaimed Maria before turning around with a devious grin on her lips, "Like me!"

" **Kono kichigai!"** yelled Chiyomi.

Maria turned back and gave her one more smile, "Whatever that means. Anyway! It's his own stupid fault for passing _you_ up! You're a crazy bitch and you rock!"

" **That's what I just called you!"**

"Yeah, but I meant it as a compliment," she replied before blowing her a kiss. She then quickly walked out to their customers.

Lorenzo started laughing hysterically. Any moment now, steam was going to start shooting out of his little waitress' ears.

* * *

Maria approached as Josephine sat down at the table with a new friend sitting down across from her at one of the outside tables. Her friend had long soft copper red hair, fair skin, eyes like the finest emeralds, and perfect (in Maria's expert opinion) C-cup breasts. She was like a wonderful amalgamation of the features she found most attractive in the girls around her. Josephine was herself a total knockout, but this girl with her managed to keep Maria's eye as she approached. Maybe she was just used to being around Josephine and this new girl's beauty was just that, new. It could also have been her hormones running wild after messing with Chiyomi. But whatever the case might have been, Maria felt her heart race and soar as she approached them.

"Hey! Welcome! What can I get you?" she asked, forcing herself to maintain her usual energetic tone and mannerisms and hopefully not betray the insane lust swelling within her at the sight of this incredible beauty.

"Hello, Maria. My friend here doesn't speak English, so let me just ask her."

"Aisha, voulez vous-" started Josephine before being cut off by Maria.

"Bonjour mademoiselle. Bien venu avec le restaurant Bianchi. Je m'appelle Maria, est je suis les servateur avec vous."

"Ahh? Vous parlez Français!"

"Oui, je parle Français, mais pas bien. Voulez vous boire quelque chose?"

"Vous parlez très bien le Français! Bravo!"

"Merci beaucoup," replied Maria with an embarrassed smile.

"Alors," started Aisha as she looked over the menu before realizing she couldn't comprehend it. "Un café latte ci vous plez. Josephine?"

"Double espresso for me please."

"Café Latte pour le madame, est espresso pour mon amis. Une moment ci vous plez," replied Maria before walking back inside the restaurant.

The redhead turned her head back to Josephine after Maria left them, "Do you come here often? She seems to know you."

"I know her well. She's my roommate in the academy. She said she spoke a little French when we first met. But I forgot. She's always full of surprises."

"Oh? I thought your roommate was from Canada? That girl was clearly American."

"McKenna is Canadian, yes. But Maria also lives in the same room with us."

"I don't think you mentioned her. You spoke of Jennifer, Tatenashi, and McKenna. But I don't think you spoke of this girl."

"Hmm... I was sure I mentioned her somewhere. But anyway. Yes. Her name is Maria Cross. Also, before she does anything strange, I apologize for her in advance. There's no excuse for her."

Aisha chuckled at the English girl, "Why would you apologize for her? She seems nice."

"Oui. She does indeed seem nice. That's how she tricks you! Be on your guard."

* * *

Meanwhile, Maria stood at a counter near the back of the establishment where she was waiting for the coffee to be made. Lorenzo came out and stood beside her to look out at the only two customers he had who were sitting and talking to each other.

"Josephine has a new friend?" he asked her in English.

"Yeah. She's so beautiful... but she only speaks fucking French, and my French is complete garbage."

"All French is garbage."

"Haha. I'll remember that one."

"I know that girl," added the other waitress who was preparing the coffee. "She's in my class. Everyone says she's stupid. But I don't know her personally. What I know is that she sits in class and reads her own books and can't even speak Japanese."

"Hah! No wonder she gets along with Josie. She does the same thing in our class. But when it comes to the redhead though... let me introduce you to a new concept of reality. There's intelligence, and then there's the perception of intelligence. Since she's obviously not Japanese, isn't it unrealistic to expect her to speak Japanese? When you have a language and culture barrier between people, they tend to look pretty damn stupid to one another."

"We're in Japan... And she's in a Japanese school. She should be able to speak it."

"Yes. But how is she expected to learn if nobody is teaching her? See. I thought we might try to apply some logic to your assertion, and see where that takes us. But your head is obviously made of fucking cement, so I dunno why the fuck I'm wasting my time trying to get through it. Maybe you could try helping her out a little? Put yourself in her place, a strange person in a strange land, wouldn't you want a little help?"

"Could you speak more slowly and not use so many complicated or dirty words? English isn't my first language you know!" exclaimed Chiyomi while handing Maria a tray with the coffee.

"Not my fault you're dumb. Maybe if English is too hard, you should try Italian? Since, you know, this is an Italian restaurant?"

"You are a bitch, do you know that?"

"Yes I do," replied Maria with a goofy smile.

"You'll need to learn Japanese too if you want to live here!"

"I already got a teacher for that. But I speak native levels of English, Italian, and Spanish. I also speak passable French and German. I also speak some very basic Mandarin. So let's not count the last one, which means I speak five languages to your two? When I learn Jap, it'll be six. So bite me."

Lorenzo laughed at their argument while Maria walked away to serve their customers.

"Why did you hire her? She is such a bitch!"

Lorenzo turned a skeptical pair of eyes on the ashen-haired girl, "And you're not?"

"Baka! If that is what you think then why did you hire me?"

"Because I like angry people who take the world by the balls. I don't have time for anyone else."

* * *

"Ahh, I almost forgot. I brought this for you," said Aisha while pulling a book out of her handbag. "Because you gave me something to read, I thought maybe I could return the favor."

Josephine reached out and accepted the book with a kind smile, "Thank you very much. So what do we have here?" she asked while examining the cover, "Oh, Sartre. I'm ashamed to say I've never read any existentialists."

"I love their work. My father hates that I read such books, so I'm sure he'll be relieved that I gave that one away."

"What does your father have against Sartre?"

"He doesn't like me reading things which contradict Islam. My mother is barely literate but she knows the Qur'an and forces it on me."

"So your parents are religious, but you're not?"

Aisha shook her head, "I don't know. I don't wear the hijab. Which my father barely tolerates because I pray when I'm at home with my parents, and I do the fast in Ramadan. But I am not a true believer. I argue too much with everything."

"I'm the same way. In England, I went to Catholic School, but I was very much reviled by our Theology teacher because I kept asking questions he couldn't, or wouldn't answer. I remember one time which particularly stands out. The subject was about Sodom. How the Angels determined that Lot was the only good and virtuous man in the city because he was happy to let a mob gang rape his daughters instead of the Angels. Then his daughters later seduced him..."

"Yes... Very virtuous. If I made a problem like that in religion class in the Emirates, I'll be sent to jail... You're very lucky you live in an open society. So what was it that made you an unbeliever?"

"A believer reads the Bible. An Atheist understands the Bible. That's really all there is to it. The more I read, the more I realized that the Bible was just bad fiction. I haven't actually read the Qur'an myself, so I can't say anything about it."

"For me. It was my mother. When she was teaching me the Qur'an, I would ask why something was, or why it had to be this way, she said 'because god gave us the Qur'an' and if I argued, she would hit me. For the longest time, I accepted it. I didn't have a choice. But over the last year or so, I started reading on the internet, trying to find answers to my questions about 'why' and I found websites that explain religion to me in a way I always considered, but never dared to ask openly."

"I had a similar experience with the internet. It's where religion goes to die. That was my window into the minds of skeptics who made sense to me."

Aisha nodded, "Yes. Exactly. My mother grew up in the desert. She doesn't understand the technology. So she always asks me what I'm doing on the computer or the phone all day every day, and I tell her I'm reading books or talking to my friends in Morocco or Dubai. She cares so much about me that she doesn't even know that I don't have any friends. Well, except for you now. I obviously can't tell her I'm reading Hitchens, or Dawkins, or Rushdie. She doesn't know who any of them are, and my father will probably kill me for the third."

"I don't envy you. That can't be easy, growing up with religious parents and being a skeptic, or free thinker."

"In the Emirates, it was easy to cover up my disinterest in religion class, all my grades were bad. I'm not very good in school. My grades have always been bad."

"Because you find most of the subjects boring?"

"Non, it's not that. I just find it difficult to study. Not because it's boring, but more, I don't know what, it's difficult to focus. It's worse now because everything is in Japanese..."

"Aren't there other schools you can attend? Any schools in French maybe?"

"Non. Not in this city. My father tells me that if I can't do well in school here he will send me to back to Dubai to live with my aunt and go to school there. Even if I hate Dubai, I don't think I belong here in Japan."

"It would be a shame if you went away so soon after we just met. I don't have any other friends to talk about things like this with. Well, I suppose the topic of religion is something Maria might welcome. She's like you in that she grew up with a very religious family."

"Americans have religion?"

"Oh dear... You're not terribly well informed are you?"

"Not on the subject of America, non."

"Then you might be surprised to learn that some communities in America are just as religious as the ones in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan. Just with Christianity instead of Islam. That girl Maria," she said while gesturing to the American who was arguing animatedly with her Japanese co-worker, "She called the people of her community the 'American Taliban' and she was probably right to do so."

"In our part of the world, they like to call them the American Infidels, but, it might not be true."

"A lot of the time it is. But America is very divided. Religion and politics are very divisive topics among them. If they didn't have so many external threats, they'd be fighting each other right now. Well, actually, I suppose they are fighting each other right now. Even if it isn't a real civil war, it's certainly a cold civil war which could become a hot one at any moment."

"Interesting. What about your country? I'm sorry to say don't know very much about England either."

That was when Maria came out and served them their Latte and Espresso.

"Can I bring you anything else?"

"No thank you, Maria. Not at the moment."

"Sure. Just holler if you need anything."

After Maria left, Josephine put a hand to her chin and crossed her legs while gathering her thoughts. "So… England. I suppose we're just like any other country in this day and age. But our divide is more about rich and poor than anything political or religious. Ever since we left the EU, our economy has completely crumbled. I mean, it works just fine for the wealthy, but not so much for the rest of us. We let unbridled capitalism take a hold of our society. Both of my parents had to work two jobs and they could still barely afford to keep the lights on in our house. My home city of Leeds is all dilapidated. The roads are all potholed, the streets lights barely work. There are a lot of homeless and hungry people everywhere you look. My school was crumbling, and don't get me started on my apartment building… We live in a council block which should have been torn down decades ago."

"Morocco is the same. Casablanca used to be a very beautiful city, and in many ways, it still is. But because of the war, there is nothing there. No business, no work, nothing. The people are poor. My mother was lucky though. Her family was very poor even before the war. They live in the desert. My mother married a man who had money. But the rest of our family are still very poor. Also because we're Berber, not Arab, there are even fewer jobs for us there."

"But aren't you half Arab?"

"Oui. But, I don't exactly look Arab. Because I am white with red hair and green eyes, in Morocco they know I'm Berber, and in Dubai, they think I'm European. In the malls the boys come up to me and say 'Chem?' and then I have to beat them with my purse. Just because I don't look Arab they think I'm a prostitute and ask me how much for sex... Especially the Saudis, they're the most stupid. I don't have the words to describe it. But I suppose nothing is helped by the fact that there really are a lot of prostitutes in Dubai. Really a lot. But for the Khaleeji boys, meaning, boys from the Gulf, it's what they learn, any girl who isn't covered with a hijab is a slut, and any girl who is covered is just hiding the fact that she's a slut. It's not a good place to be a girl. It's bad enough for me, but for you, it would be even worse being beautiful and foreign."

"Yes. I'm ashamed to say that the perception of foreigners is a problem in England as well. Just not for quite the same reason. If they see a foreigner with a job, they beat them. If they see a foreigner begging in the street, they'll rob him. It's horrible. Absolutely horrible."

"Unemployment is a problem everywhere. So is xenophobia. The Emiratis talk about how much better it would be if they got rid of all the foreigners, but then I ask them who they expect to have clean their streets, serve their food, clean their houses, or sell them clothes, and they have no answer. They aren't used to doing those kinds of jobs. But they still complain about unemployment. There are many jobs for them, but they won't do them. They all expect to be rich and make big money and drive expensive cars. I hate them for that. The city they built made them forget where they came from."

"Do you speak Arabic?"

"Oui. French and Arabic are my mother languages. My school was in Arabic, and I speak French at home with my parents. English was taught in my school last year, but how much can you learn in one year?"

"I don't know. I can't remember what my level of French was after one year. I had French classes all throughout my schooling. But unlike my classmates, I used and maintained my French, and expanded on it by reading books in French."

The redhead shamefully looked down at her latte. "Oui. I know. I'm not smart. I should know English, but I never needed it. Everyone speaks Arabic in Dubai, and everyone speaks French and Arabic in Morocco."

"On the contrary. I find you very intelligent. We're not all as linguistically gifted as Maria, but even without English, you can contribute a lot to this world. You just need passion and motivation. So let me ask you this now, what do you hope to accomplish?"

Aisha looked back up into Josephine's blue eyes who in turn gazed back into her green eyes. "I never had a good answer to that question. The only thing I enjoy doing is reading. Someday, maybe, I want to try to write. But I don't have ideas, I don't have experience with life. So I don't have any stories to tell. At least nothing I could actually tell. If my parents ever read some of what I might want to say..."

"Probably wouldn't end well. I imagine there's a good reason why there are so few books about being an atheist in an Islamic society."

"Non. It's very rare. It's the same way in that part of the world now as it was in Europe in the Dark Ages. Countries like Saudi Arabia complain because they didn't get any Infinite Stratos cores. They said it was all political and about keeping them out of the new global balance of power. But in reality? That was part of it. Who wants to give a theocracy such a powerful weapon? Also, let's be realistic because only women can pilot the IS, which Saudi woman is going to be allowed to do it? It's so stupid. You know what girls have to wear to use an IS, can you imagine a Saudi girl who wears burka and abaya dressed like that for competition? She'll never be able to show her face back in Saudi Arabia. I'm glad I was never eligible for it. It seems to be more of a problem than it is worth."

"Indeed. Sometimes, it really is more trouble than it's worth..."

* * *

"This is way more trouble than it's worth..." groaned McKenna in annoyance.

"Oh come on Kenny! Don't be like that! How often do you get to assemble an IS with your own hands from basically scratch?" asked Tatenashi while assembling one of the components of her IS.

"We're taking another IS and gutting it, then we're taking those parts and putting them into a new frame. That's hardly building one from scratch," said McKenna who was trying to sort out a mess of various components which had all been incorrectly packaged, and thus none of them had any idea of what went where. "It would have been nice if the damn Russians could have at the very least packed everything properly! Look at this shit! Would have also been nice if this thing came with an instruction manual!"

"That's half the fun of assembling an IS, not only do we have to put it together, we have to write the manual ourselves as well!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

"We also have to sort out the parts and- Where the hell is Mayuzumi? We can't even start assembling the legs without her!"

"I don't actually know. She should have been here by now. Think she overslept?"

"It's possible... Wanna go knock on her door?"

"Too far away. I'm sure she'll be here soon enough. Got the Core section all sorted I think, doesn't look like anything's missing, I hope..."

"I'll check that for you. How about you take over sorting this jigsaw puzzle?"

"Yeah. Sure!"

McKenna inspected the components the bluenette had sorted on the work table. The parts of the IS which would later hold the core and bring the unit to life. She then nodded with satisfaction. "Your skill in IS crafting has gone up by one point," she said to her shorter friend.

"Yay! But what was the max skill level in RPGs again?"

"Depends on the game. Anyway. I hope you realize that just putting this frame together isn't even half of the job right? There still the programming and stress testing and that's even before we get to-"

"Of course I know that. Stop being so negative! Things like this make life the most fun it can be!"

"Trust me... this is exactly what I enjoy most in life. But, you just seem to think that it's actually possible to get this thing ready in time for the class league tournament. I still don't think that'll be possible. Besides, you're not even your class rep, so what's it even matter?"

"Of course we can get it done! Have a little faith!"

"Faith and reality are two opposing forces."

Tatenashi pouted at McKenna, "So negative... Did you get into another fight with that big manly looking stud of yours?"

"No. I'm just making it my mission to inject a healthy dose of realism to this project. Mayuzumi sees it as technological art, you see at as technological badassery, and for me, this is just technological masturbation."

Tatenashi fell over laughing. "Hahahahaha!"

"I'm glad you're amused. But just because you can build something a certain way, doesn't mean you should. I still think this IS is going to turn out completely ridiculous."

"I can't help but agree…" said Meiying Zhāng from behind them.

McKenna and Tatenashi turned around where Tatenashi put on a big bright smile and waved at her, "Oh, hey two-face. How's it going today?"

McKenna reflexively smacked her across the back of the head.

"Owww!"

"You're as bad as Maria sometimes! I'm sorry about her."

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it. Even my own mother can't stand to look at me anymore… I don't believe we've actually met yet, though I know who you are. I'm Meiying Zhāng."

"I know who you are as well. I'm McKenna Tremblay, nice to meet you. Is there something we can help you with?"

"No. I just came to see this abomination for myself."

"Her best friend used to be the pilot of this IS. Hence the redesign."

"I see… I'm sorry about your friend then. I'm especially sorry about mine," said McKenna while glaring at Tatenashi before she stomped on her foot, "Stop staring like that!"

"I can't help it! I know it's messed up, but hey, if she can't take this from me, imagine what Maria will do! How will she handle that? I mean look at her! She looks like the Wicked Witch of the East after she got typecast and had to do porn before she realized that the money shots were bad for her face!"

McKenna smacked Tatenashi across the back of the head before giving her another directly on top for good measure. "God, you're officially worse than Maria!"

"That was the point! I wanted it to sound like something she would say!"

"Not even she's that bad!"

"Yes, she is!"

"Would you like to know how this happened?" asked Meiying.

McKenna sighed before giving Tatenashi one more whack atop her head, "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious… If you, you know, wanna talk about it?"

Meiying started walking around and looking curiously at the various components scattered about.

"It's not a secret or anything. At least not in China, it was all over the news. But I suppose no one cared in the west. Anyway... There were two of us who made the final cut to pilot the Tianlong. When it was announced that I'd be the pilot instead of the other girl she seemed to take it well enough. She congratulated me and walked away. A little while later they were doing a photo shoot of me to use for promotional materials and press releases, that was when that other girl came back... and threw acid on me…"

"Oh fuck me…"

"Imagine that? She came prepared with the acid. Like she was expecting to lose. She knew what she would do if she did. She planned it. Meticulously… The pain was unbearable. I begged to be killed. Nobody knew what to do. She was arrested, and I was eventually taken to hospital."

"Why the hell would she do that?"

"What's the one thing all Representative Contenders have in common?"

"Our skills and smarts?"

"There's nothing I hate more than fake humility... No, the common thread that binds them all, is beauty. And I was considered very, very, beautiful. If I had lost out, I would have had a career as a model and maybe even an actress. Look at the two of you, and I mean really look at you. You're both so very, very, beautiful. So are the others. You're all the most beautiful girls your countries have to offer. That's why you're piloting IS frames. Because not only do you have the skills to do it, but you can generate a lot of money because of your beauty. The only reason I'm still here is because there wasn't time to train another contender, so they had to fix me up the best they could and cut their losses while they prepare the next beautiful girl to make them money. And she is, she's already out there modeling and training and making them lots and lots of money."

Tatenashi balled up a fist, "Why are you telling us this? I already feel bad for you, but there isn't anything I can do about it."

"I just want you to know that your actions have consequences. Whatever Yelena was mixed up in, for whatever reason you did what you did, I want you to know there's collateral damage. You took away the only person in the world who was there for me through my recovery. The person who helped me find the will to live in spite of what happened. You took that person away from me."

"So what? Do you want to take someone I care about from me? Is that it?" asked Tatenashi through clenched teeth.

"No. I'm a pacifist. No matter how angry I am, I'm not going to be like you. You can thank Yelena for that part of my personality still being here. Besides, you don't have anyone like that because you've never been in a situation where you would need someone like that."

McKenna raised an eyebrow, "How can you be a pacifist and an IS pilot? You know that fighting is basically all we do, right?"

"There's an important difference. This is a sport. Fundamentally no different from football or MMA. I'm not fighting anyone here because I hate them or want to hurt them. The intention behind the action is just as important as the action itself."

"By your logic, you should get off my case because I didn't intend to hurt you," remarked Tatenashi.

"No, but you intended to replace Yelena as an IS pilot, just as that girl intended to replace me when she threw the acid. She figured they'd put her in my place. She didn't actually have the presence of mind to realize she was committing a crime and would be going to prison for it. She was so focused on the goal that she was blinded to anything, including the unintended consequences of her actions. Rumor has it you have someone like that in your class as well Miss Tremblay."

"Yeah. We just might… So… What do you actually want from Tatenashi right now? An apology?" asked McKenna.

"No. Even if she rendered one, it's meaningless because she isn't sorry. Expecting an apology from her is like expecting an apology from a wasp after it stings you. Things can't behave contrary to their nature."

"So… How about an answer? What do you want from her?"

"I know Yelena wasn't perfect. Nobody is. I just want to know why you did what you did. Was it the same motivation as the girl who did this to me? Or is it something else?"

"I keep telling you, I can't talk about it. It's part of my agreement with the Russians. No matter how curious you are, or how much you deserve to know the truth about your friend, I can't be the one to tell you. Between the non-disclosure agreement, and my pending citizenship, I can't talk about any of it."

"Very well. Be that way. If they'd let me talk to her, I would ask her. But they won't even let her make calls or take visitors. Not even her parents can go see her… Think about that for a while. I'll leave you now…"

With that, the Chinese girl turned on her heel and walked away. When she was out of the room it was like a massive weight was lifted off McKenna's chest which made her sigh in relief before turning to Tatenashi.

"You wanna explain that to me?"

"I can't. Like I just told her. I can't."

"Well… At least you handled that better than Maria did. Not perfect, but better. We're going to need to work on that because the last thing I need is another enemy! There ain't no fucking way I want someone piloting something like the fucking TIANLONG coming after me!"

"She just said she was a pacifist and that she wouldn't do anything. And I believe her. So I'm pretty sure that won't happen."

"Yeah. And I'm pretty sure Mao Zedong said the same thing once."

"No, he didn't. Mao was pretty up front. He said Communism isn't love, it's the hammer you use to crush your enemies. Or something like that. Where's Josie when we need her?"

"Whatever. You get my point!"

Tatenashi put on a thick Russian accent which clashed horribly with her Japanese accent, "Da Comrade Kenny! Let us resume building of advanced Russian war machine!"

McKenna palmed her face, hard.

* * *

By the time lunchtime came around, Josephine and her friend were long gone, and Maria only had to attend to a handful of customers. But now it was lunchtime, and the place was filling up rapidly. Maria and Chiyomi wouldn't have time to sit down until the lunch rush had ended.

But, just when Maria thought things had gotten hectic enough, she found herself cleaning a table after the previous customers left to prepare it for the next customers. Who turned out to be one of her classmates from the academy. Namely Daniella Arad.

Accompanying here was a second girl with dark brown hair and green eyes. She was taller than Arad by a few inches, and a good deal taller than Maria which meant that she had to look up to see into those striking green eyes.

"Holy shit you're beautiful…" said Maria to the new girl.

"Why thank you. You're actually very cute yourself. Daniella? Is she the one?"

Daniella smiled at Maria while sitting down, "Yes she is. So, you're going to be our waitress? How cute is that!"

Maria's eyes narrowed dangerously, "This is my place of business, bitch. If here you're here to eat, I'll get you some menus, but if you're here to start shit there's a gas oven in the kitchen I can shove you in. Might be a tight fit, but the pizza oven is wood fired and I'm not sure you'll fit."

"Oh? Do you want to repeat that for the camera? I'm sure your boss might like to see it, or even Miss Orimura!" asked Daniella while holding up her smartphone.

"If you're here for the entertainment, that's fine, but you can't have the table in here unless you're going to order food. The minimum charge is three thousand yen per person. That's one hundred shekels."

"I think we got what we came here for!"

"Not yet…" said the eldest girl while grabbing onto the younger by the arm to stop her from leaving. Daniella then sat back down and looked up at what was going on with glee.

She then offered her hand out to the raven-haired girl. "My name is Avigale Levy. I'm the Representative Cadet for Israel."

The American smiled and shook hands with the girl, "Maria Cross. Representative Contender, USA, and your waitress for today."

"Nice to meet you. So may I ask what the issue is between the two of you? I really don't want to believe you're anti-semitic, but if you are we can talk about avoiding each other."

"Naaa, I'm anti- _ **everyone**_."

"Then do us all a favor and go lynch yourself!" yelled Daniella.

"Daniella!" she said with a raised voice while turning to face the younger Israeli. "You asked me to help you settle your problem. If you're not going to help me do that, then I'll leave. I don't have time for this childishness, I had to ditch my best friends to help you with this, so show appreciation by giving me cooperation!"

"Fine…" replied Daniella with a disgruntled tone.

Avigale sighed before turning back to the American. "I know you've got your job here to attend to so I'll try to make this quick. What exactly is your problem with her?"

"She's just a bitch. I am too though. So we probably just rub each other wrong. But she did start it, I guess she got you involved because she can't finish it," explained Maria.

"Is that true?" she asked after turning back to her fellow Israeli.

"She's a bitch. She treats our classmates like shit. What am I supposed to do?"

Avigale shook her head before taking a seat at the table. "I think your spat just needs to run its course, I would just like to ask Maria here to choose her insults a bit more carefully. I don't think you're actually anti-semitic, but you are stupid. So whatever, do what you both want."

"Shall I get you a menu? Maybe something to drink as well?" asked Maria.

"Please. A beer. A very cold beer."

"Sure! Name your brew. We got Peroni, Moretti, Kirin, and Sapporo."

"Whatever's the good Italian lager that you've got. I'm bored of the local brews."

"Moretti is popular with the Italians."

"That then."

"How about you Arad?"

Daniella stared furiously at Maria. "Fuck you!"

She then turned on Avigale and yelled, "Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh!" before she got up and stormed out the restaurant.

Avigale sighed in irritation and rubbed the side of her head, "No good deed goes unpunished…"

"Our food isn't a punishment. I promise you that."

"We'll see. In the meantime, watch out for that one. I don't know why, but she's got one hell of a chip on her shoulder. Wouldn't take much to make her do something incredibly stupid. So perhaps you should lay off her?"

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. All I'll tell you about me is that I'm purely reactive. Though I can be proactive when the situation calls for it."

"For some reason, I believe you…"

"Say, you wanna maybe meet up for lunch in school sometime and get to know each other better?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"Umm, yeah. I am. Yes."

"I'm flattered, really," she answered with a kind smile. "But I'm in a long-term relationship."

"Ahh… Sorry then. It was worth a shot."

"I understand. If it's worth anything, I'd have said yes if I wasn't already with someone," she answered kindly. "Contrary to what I was told, you actually seem like a lot of fun to be around. That's my impression anyway."

"Thanks…" Maria replied with a strong hint of the disappointment in her voice. "So how about that beer?"

"Yeah… How about that beer?"

Maria turned and awkwardly walked away until she reached the bar. "Moretti. Molto freddo."

"Was there a problem?" asked Lorenzo in Italian.

"No. Just schoolmates of mine. The one just thought she'd stop in and pick on me a little but she got bored and her friend got hungry."

Lorenzo nodded while opening up a beer bottle, "If I didn't think you could handle problems like that, I wouldn't have hired you. You should have seen what Chiyomi-chan did when some of her classmates tried to tease her about this job… Cavolo! It was beautiful!"

"Then just in case, do you think we can fit a person in the pizza oven?"

Lorenzo shrugged after handing her the beer, "Everything is possible."

* * *

Josephine and Aisha waited patiently for the lights to change so they could cross the street. But while she stood there, she couldn't help but stare contemptuously at the all the self-driving cars as they passed her by. They were just as many as there were manually operated cars on the road.

"It's sad. So many paying jobs were thrown away because of those robot cars. Now all they have to do is pay to refuel or recharge the cars, no need to hire drivers anymore."

"They don't have them in Morocco, but they're everywhere in Dubai. I remember the mass demonstrations when one company replaced their drivers with self-driving trucks. Hundreds were arrested, the riot police also beat the people without mercy, and I was so shocked, and I didn't really understand too much at the time. So many people died. But now I know that it wasn't only in Dubai. It happened everywhere. They deported tens of thousands of people for demonstrating on top of all the hundreds of thousands of people who had to go back to their countries because they lost their jobs. It was the same in Saudi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and all the cities in the Emirates."

"There were demonstrations in the UK as well, they didn't get shown on the TV. But I could just look outside my bedroom window to see the police at work. Even my father lost his job as a taxi driver to a self-driving car. At least in the EU, they passed a law saying that self-driving vehicles had to have human drivers in them. But no such thing happened in the UK. And they couldn't even point a finger at immigration as the reason for all the job losses since leaving the EU was meant to address that. More people are unemployed now than before we left the EU. And people look at me as if I've grown a second head when I say that we need less capitalism in our society and more humanity."

When the pedestrian light turned green, they crossed the street.

"So you're interested in politics?"

"Oui. Someday, I want to be the Prime Minister and fix everything once and for all."

"Do you think someone like you could achieve such a thing?"

"What do you mean someone like me?" asked Josephine with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure how to phrase it in a polite way."

"Then phrase it in an impolite way. I don't mind. I'll have to take worse if I want to hold high office."

"I don't want to. I like you. So let me put it this way. You seem to be very far to the left, in a time when everyone is running to the right. You're against religion, you're against capitalism, and I don't know about your other liberal values, but I'm sure they're just as strong."

"Indeed they are. And yes. I understand what you're getting at. Have you ever read Paulo Coelho?"

"Non. I'm ashamed to say I have not."

"Hmm. I'll have to find you a copy in French. You should read it. But until then, let me put it to you this way. If I don't try, I'll never be able to live with myself. I'd watch the worst kinds of people take office, and I would always hate myself for not even trying to oppose them. If I lose, at least I'll be able to say that the people didn't want to be helped, they just want to live the way they live now."

"I wish I had such courage. But-"

"You don't have to explain it, Aisha. I won't be stoned in the street for speaking like a Communist. I know that in your part of the world you can get into very serious trouble for saying something the people in power don't agree with."

"Oui. That's part of why I never know what to do with myself. That's why I can't write anything. If the wrong person reads what I want to write, then I could be killed or jailed, or both..."

"I don't envy you. Even the freedom you might enjoy here in Japan couldn't protect you if you said the wrong thing on the wrong topic on a medium which the wrong people can easily read."

"Merci beaucoup. It's nice to feel like someone understands. I'm glad to have met you."

She looked to her right hand and smiled down at the shorter redhead. "I'm glad I met you as well."

"So where are we going?"

"Euh. My friend Jennifer gave me a short list of places to go in the city. There's apparently a Japanese restaurant which has some of the best food in town. All the food at the academy is terrible so I wanted to try something authentic. I thought that might be a good place to have lunch because it's also on a street with a lot of Japanese boutiques. So I thought we could eat and browse around to see what's what."

"Oui! That sounds interesting. I still haven't explored much of the Japanese culture. The language barrier makes it difficult."

"Oh... I hadn't thought of that... But if Jennifer recommended it, then I thought perhaps there might be enough English speakers to get us by."

"Get you by perhaps."

"I apologize. I didn't put much thought into that before we walked halfway across town... "

"It's fine. I only need my eyes to see."

"It'll work out. While we're eating... Assuming we can talk to the people there... we can go through the list and figure out our next stop."

"D'accord."

* * *

Josephine and Aisha walked into the restaurant and took a look around. The place was empty except for two boys standing at a bar with a window into the kitchen. The rest of the establishment was made up of all wooden benches. There were some dispenser machines on the side up against the wall as well. It wasn't a five-star establishment, but if Jennifer recommended it, then it had to have been good, she didn't seem the sort to mislead her friends.

"Welcome, table for two?" asked a boy with long dark red hair similar to Aisha's and some kind of headband as he walked up to them from the bar.

"Oh, you speak English? What a relief."

"Yeah. We cater to all sorts of people here," he answered while picking up two menus and then walked them over to a table.

"Business not so good?" asked Josephine in reference to the empty establishment.

"We get a lot of customers during the week when the workers are on their lunch breaks, and then again at dinner time for people who want to avoid the rush hour. But ever since Gaijin street took off, business has been dead on the weekends."

"That's a shame, but at least you're still in business. That's always a good thing," replied Josephine while taking a seat. "Sorry. Parlez vous Français?"

"Ahh, no. No. I'm sorry. Just English and Japanese."

"Sorry. My friend here doesn't speak English. Just French and Arabic. What can you recommend for us to eat? I haven't had any good experiences with Japanese food yet, so I was eager to try something real."

"You're in the right place for that. I'll make sure you get a proper taste of Japan. Our most popular meals here are Yakitori and Udon noodles. Yakitori is a carnivore's delight. It's skewered chicken with sweet soy sauce glaze. Delicious. Udon noodles are the vegetarian's delight with thick wheat noodles served in kakejiru, which is dashi, a soup stock, soy sauce, and mirin, which is a kind of rice wine," the boy explained.

Josephine relayed that to Aisha and the two spoke for a moment before coming to an agreement.

"She'll have the noodles, and I'll have the carnivore's delight," said Josephine with a kind and warm smile.

"Anything to drink?"

"What do you have?" asked Josephine while looking over the menu for the available drinks.

"We aren't technically licensed, but we do have Sapporo beer, and some decent sake."

Aisha shook her head after having that translated. "Non. I don't drink. It's Haram."

"Haram?"

"Oh... Ummm. It's forbidden. I'm not religious, but, some things, I do follow. I don't drink alcohol, or eat pork."

"Very well. I'll abstain as well then," she replied to Aisha then turned to the boy, "We shan't be imbibing today. Soft drinks?"

"Coke. Iced green tea. Soda water... The usual offerings."

"Iced Green tea sounds lovely. We'll have that please."

"Got it. I'll get that as quick as I can," the boy said with a charming smile which Josephine couldn't help but to mirror, and then the boy nearly tripped over a chair causing the girls to have a small giggle.

"I think he likes you," suggested Aisha with a sly grin on her lips.

"He seems nice enough. If he finds the courage, I might find the interest. But even that is predicated upon how good the cooking is."

Aisha and Josephine both laughed heartily at her statement.

The boy walked towards the back of the restaurant where his best friend had already pulled out two bottles of green tea for him to take to his customers.

"Bro... You gotta kill me now. I can't stay professional with that girl... She's so beautiful it actually **HURTS**... I might _**die**_ from looking at her," he said in Japanese.

"The blonde? Why don't you give it a try? What have you got to lose besides a first-time customer?"

"A repeat customer?"

"Come on bro. Give it a shot. She doesn't seem the type to go all tsundere on you. She looks all, I dunno, well-bred and elegant? If she doesn't wanna date you, she'd let you down easy."

"Well-bred? She's not a dog! I hope you never say that to a girl!"

"You know what I'm getting at!"

"Ichika... Look at me, and then look at her. She's not just out of my league, she's playing a completely different sport! It's like, she's doing figure skating with gold medal levels of grace and beauty, and I'm smashing buttons in Streetfighter. I couldn't get a girl like that even if my semen granted superpowers!"

The black haired boy laughed until his sides ached while the red-haired boy gave him a dirty look, he then turned around and took the drinks over to his customer's table.

"Here you go, your food will be ready in about ten minutes. Making it all fresh."

"Thank you very much. I have to say, your English is perfect. Where did you learn it?"

"In school. We also have so many foreigners in this town, so I have a few English speaking friends and classmates to practice with regularly."

Josephine took a sip of the iced green tea as she listened, "Mm. This is actually good. Thank you very much," she said to him before giving him a little smile.

"You're welcome. I'll go start the food now."

"You're going to be our chef?"

"Yeah. My little sister and I do all the cooking here when we're not in school. But my sister's out today, so it's just me."

"I see. Well. I look forward to sampling your cooking. If it's good enough, I might take you back to the Academy with me, we desperately need a good and handsome cook in our cafeteria."

"I promise you won't be disappointed," he said before slowly walking away, tripping over the chair behind him and very nearly falling down before regaining his balance while his friend in the back and the two girls all laughed at him.

"He obviously likes you. He's cute. You should give him a hint if you like him too," remarked Aisha.

"I did give him a hint. Hehe. We'll see what he does. Can't say I've ever talked to a boy my own age who could keep his eyes on mine instead of my breasts. Maybe we could double date if you think his friend back there is cute?"

"Non… My father would lose his mind if he ever caught me with a boy. Besides. Something about that boy tells me he would be troublesome."

Josephine turned around until she could see the kitchen area where the black haired boy was looking into the kitchen and chatting with his friend. The boy then picked that exact moment to look back, Josephine simply gave him a smile and nodded her head towards the kitchen.

The boy pointed in with his thumb and smiled back before turning back to the kitchen. He then said something in Japanese and suddenly there was a loud metallic crashing noise followed by hysterical laughter from the black haired boy and a giggle from Josephine.

"Yes. I think I see what you mean."

Aisha grinned mischievously, "I know trouble when I see it," she said before sipping from her drink, "I don't think I like this drink. I think tea should be served hot. One day you should try the mint tea I make. You'll love it. Something I learned from my mother which is actually useful."

"Mint tea does sound lovely. You mentioned your mother grew up in the desert?"

"Oui. My grandfather is a salt merchant."

"Salt? Why do they need salt in the desert?"

Aisha giggled a little at that, "In the desert, you need salt. All the people and animals need salt. Without salt, the body cannot keep water. Not enough salt will kill a person as surely as too much salt. That's why we say that someone is not worth their salt."

"That's fascinating!"

"Oui. Salt is very precious in the deep desert. That's also how my father met my mother. At that time, my grandfather made enough money to buy camels. So he was selling salt and other spices in the market and renting camels to tourists. My father and his friends were on holiday in Morocco and they wanted to go into the desert. They wanted to take camels from my grandfather and that's how he met my mother. He asked my grandfather for five camels, and offered a big dowry for my mother as well."

"That's actually very interesting! So it was love at first sight for them?"

"Non. I don't think they ever had love between them. They don't even sleep in the same bed, or room."

"Oh. I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. It's normal for me, and it's normal in our culture. Well, no, it's not normal, but it's common. If that makes sense? My father married for lust, and my mother married for money. Now my mother is more than two hundred kilos and my father takes his money to prostitutes."

What amazed Josephine the most, was the indifference with which she made that admission about her parents. "You mentioned you had a brother when we first met?"

"Oui, he's three years old. Tres adorable. I love him very much. But that was probably the last time my father touched my mother. 'I have a son now, so halas. My work with you is done.'"

"Halas?"

"Sorry. I sometimes mix Arabic without thinking. Halas means finish."

"What does your father work in?"

"They make weapons and things for the Infinite Stratos. I don't know exactly what is involved, but everyone says they make the best metal, because it's something like Damascus Steel, but better. Very expensive, but very good metal."

"Wait... Wait... You mean to tell me your father is one of the partners at Damascus Armory?"

"Oui. You know them?"

"My IS has seven swords, five of which were made by your father's company."

"Oh! That's amazing! My father and his friends all studied metal sciences in university and they discovered how to make this kind of steel. Then the IS came out and they got together to make a sword for an IS champion who won the second Mondo Grosso with their sword. Since then, the business became very successful. But you have five of their swords? They're all so expensive? Your country must be putting a lot of faith in you to spend that much money on only your weapons."

"I know. I gawked at the price tag for my swords as well. I wasn't terribly pleased with how much they spent on those weapons. But all I can do now is make the best use of them I possibly can."

"If it helps. I know that those swords will last longer than your IS will."

"Oh, I don't doubt that. I just wish that the government would spend as much on things like education. In my school, we had a library with empty shelves. Well, you could find Bibles in the library, but that was it."

"What about your family? I've told you so much about mine. You said your father drove a taxi?"

"It's not nearly as interesting as selling salt in the desert or inventing a new kind of steel, but my parents are average people. They met in secondary school and they were together ever since. They got married after university."

"C'est incroyable! I wish I could have such a love."

"But, this is the UK we're talking about. Even with a university education, my father couldn't find work. He ended up driving a taxi. Then I was born. Shortly thereafter, my father lost his job as a taxi driver because of Uber undercutting them. So we had to live on unemployment benefits for a long time. There was just no work available for my parents. After however long it was, my father managed to get a job in construction. My mother also managed to get a job as a housekeeper. So we had a little bit of money for a while. Then Brexit happened, and the economy collapsed soon after. The company my father worked for declared bankruptcy. The family my mother was working for were ruined overnight. So it was back to unemployment benefits."

"I'm sorry..."

"Since Brexit, they both worked a lot of temporary jobs. Today they're both working two jobs. A supermarket during the day and then they clean a hospital at night. I suppose that's part of why I had a lot of trouble in school myself."

"You had problems in school?" asked Aisha with a skeptical eye on the blonde.

"Not academic problems. 'Discipline' problems. I was annoyed that my parents had to struggle so much to keep me in a decent school, but I wasn't getting a decent education from it. I didn't have academic problems because our history textbook was itself a historical relic. Our math book was covering things I could do in my sleep and often did. Also, someone forgot to tell the science teacher about the internet, because he spent a lot of time on YouTube being laughed at thanks to me."

"Why? Was he silly?"

"Very silly. He tried to get away with barely touching on evolution and only taught intelligent design."

"That amazes me. You teach yourself things beyond what you learned in school. I can't even master what they do teach in school. Is this the difference between a normal person and an IS pilot?"

"I think you just don't give yourself enough credit. Or enough of a chance. With me, it was my grandmother who taught me how to teach myself. She gave me books, and she taught me how to understand them. How to go beyond the book and learn things about the world. Without that. I doubt I'd be sitting here with you now."

"In the Gulf countries, it's never what you know, it's who you know. That's why it's so hard for people to find work. You need wasta to get anything. Wasta means 'connections.'"

"Tell me more about the Gulf. What's it like there?"

"I hate Dubai so much. I was in an Arabic school there and I didn't get along with anyone. I didn't have any friends at all."

"Why was that?"

"I don't know. We just don't mix together. Like oil and water. They think anyone who isn't one of them is a whore, and because I'm half, I'm not one of them in their eyes. It's sad because we all come from the desert, but because of their big new city, they forgot about the desert. I think the Emirati people believe that they conquered the desert with their cities. But they forget that the desert gives of itself to sustain life, but more importantly, it always takes back what it gives. It gave the Arabs water from its oases, it gave them dates from its trees, and it gave them oil to become very rich. But the desert can't just give. It has to take before it can give again. One day, the desert will take from Dubai what it gave, and it will also take the people who forgot how to respect the desert."

"As far as apocalyptic predictions go, that was one of the more interesting ones I've heard."

"Your grandmother taught you about books. My grandfather taught me about the desert. My mother married a rich man and forgot where she came from. She sits on the couch all day, in front of the TV and eats herself to death. She forgot what it meant to have nothing except what the desert could provide. What it meant to be worth your salt. But for me, I will never forget where I come from."

"Tell me more about your grandfather. You seem to have a great deal of respect for him."

"I do. When I was thirteen my mother and I had a very big fight. Her solution was to send me to my grandfather because she didn't want to see me."

"That's harsh..."

"I thought it was at the time. But in the end, I'm very happy that she did that. I learned more from a summer in the desert than I had in my whole life up to that point. Before that, I was spoiled. I had AC, I didn't drink water because we had Pepsi, and Vimto, and endless tea. Our dinner table had enough food for the whole tribe, but we were only three people. The Indian driver took me to school in a Range Rover. But when I went to Morocco, there was nothing. I arrived at the airport, I was wearing Gucci and Prada. But with the tribe, all of that was trash. My five-thousand Dirham shoes couldn't even buy any of my grandfather's salt. After my first week, I learned what had value, and what had no value. Prada handbag? Worthless. They put it in the fire. Armani top? Also in the fire. Paper money? Kindling for the fire! My gold Cartier necklace? One sheep. Maybe two, if I could barter well."

"Quite a life you've lived. I don't think I could ever endure being away from my creature comforts like that."

"In the desert, you learn what is and isn't important. After my second week with the tribe, my grandfather brought me with the caravan to trade in the Sahara. I learned very quickly how precious water is. No matter how thirsty you become, if you have no discipline, you will die. You have to always have enough water to stay alive, no more, no less. There will be nothing until the next destination. You can only move forward, never back. If you try to go back, you will die."

Josephine had leaned forward with her elbows upon on the table and listened with wonder to the story she was hearing.

"After the journey, we went to the oases where the tribe lived. That's where I learned how the women of the desert live. Where my mother grew up. There were people there who never saw the city. Who knew nothing of the world beyond that oases. At first, I thought they were backwards people, but that idea was gone from my head very quickly. I realized they knew more about life and the world than I ever would. I was the ignorant one who didn't understand the value of anything."

"What were they like?"

"Simple people. But very wise people. All kinds of people came to the oases. Tuareg, Arab, Berber. It didn't matter who you were or where you came from, in the desert, all people are the same. There I learned that all we had was what the traders brought, and what the date trees provided. In Dubai, I could go to the fridge anytime I was hungry and get something to eat. In the desert, you only eat when it is time to eat, you only drink when it is time to drink, you work when it is time to work, and you move when it's time to move. Everything must be just so. Everything has a purpose. Traditions must be followed because they come from the collective experience of the desert."

"Tres incroyable. I envy you that experience," remarked Josephine with wide-eyed wonder.

"It was also the time the Sahara War really started. Three of my uncles and all of my cousins who were old enough went to fight the Europeans and Americans in Mali, and they had to send me home earlier than planned because it was going to become too dangerous there."

"Oh. That's terrible... I was reading the latest about that war on the train ride into the city. It's very brutal..."

"Oui, that's part of why I felt embarrassed to leave. I could go back to the AC, the expensive car, the comfortable apartment. I could eat and drink whenever I wanted, and I didn't have to worry about anything, ever. I would be far away and safe. I honestly didn't want to go back. I said all of that to my grandfather..."

"What did your grandfather say to that?"

"He told me that where I was didn't matter. What was important is that I remember what I learned about who I am and where I come from, and that we all had to keep moving forward, not backwards. Then I asked him why I had to go back to go forward. He told me ' _maktub._ '"

"That word I do know. If I recall correctly, it means 'it is written?'"

"Oui! That is exactly right! Where did you learn that?"

"The Alchemist. The book I mentioned earlier."

"Now I want to read it."

"Given your background, you would probably understand it better than I ever will. All I can say is that I would love to be able to talk about it with you after you read it."

Their conversation was cut off by the mouth-watering aroma of the food which was brought by the red-haired boy whom Josephine couldn't help but greet with a warm smile, causing him to once again nearly trip over himself, but he managed to avoid that and spilling.

"Here you go, ladies. I hope you enjoy it," he said while setting down their bowls.

"I hope so too. Your future might depend on it," replied Josephine with a mischievous tone which caused the boy to choke and made the girls laugh some more.

* * *

That evening Maria was the last to return to the dorm room. McKenna and Josephine were both sitting at the dining table with their laptops and playing their respective online games while Maria set a large paper bag down at the kitchen table before heading into the bathroom.

Josephine eyed the large brown bag curiously, "What did she bring with her I wonder?"

"Sometimes, the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer."

The blonde slowly nodded her head. "Rule of Acquisition two-oh-eight if I'm not mistaken."

McKenna jaw dropped at Josephine. "How the hell do you know that?!"

"Deep Space Nine, and that thing which quotes random rules of acquisition in Star Trek Online. Evidently, my enjoyment of Star Trek is rivaled only by your own."

"My big brother's head would explode if he ever laid eyes on you and then heard you quoting Rules of Acquisition."

"Is he also a sci-fi nerd?"

"No. Just the opposite. He wouldn't believe that someone who looks like you knows more about Science-Fiction than fashion or whatever."

Josephine skeptically looked at the Canadian "Are you trying to say I have poor fashion sense?"

"No! Come on, you know what I meant!"

"Yes. Your brother thinks being beautiful precludes you from enjoying anything considered 'nerdy.' Am I wrong?"

"Wish I could defend him right now, but you're right. He isn't perfect. He even gets on my case about whatever I geek out on."

Maria emerged from the bathroom and opened up her paper bag. "Anyone wanna try some bread? I baked it myself."

Josephine and McKenna both looked at each other fearfully. The Canadian slightly raised her fist until it was visible and the English girl nodded her understanding. Rock, paper, scissors decided that McKenna would be the one to sample Maria's baking.

With an audible gulp she stood up, Josephine gave her a smile and a British salute. "It's been an honor bunking with you McKenna Tremblay."

McKenna grumbled as she went over to Maria, "Sure. Lemmie try this bread you've baked that looks more like a rock than a loaf."

"It's got to have a tough crust, that's what keeps it fresh," the American replied while sawing into it with the bread knife and then handed the slice over to the Canadian.

McKenna took a sniff before taking a bite. Her eyes widened in surprise. "I'm ali- I mean. Damn Maria. This is actually really tasty!"

Josephine stood up and wandered over.

"Go ahead Josie, it's safe," said McKenna when she saw the blonde beside her.

"Of course it's safe! Did you really think I'd try to poison you? Lorenzo taught me how to bake this stuff with the pizza oven. Took me three tries but I got it right quicker than Chiyomi did!"

"It's a wood-fired oven right?" asked the brunette.

"Yup. That's why it's so tasty. No nasty gas flavorings in any of the pizza or bread," replied Maria while she sawed off another slice for Josephine.

The busty blonde accepted the bread slice and took a bite. "Mmm. This is perfect Maria! My compliments."

"We're gonna start serving this bread as a complimentary so he taught Chiyomi and me how to bake it. He also taught me how to make two kinds of pasta."

"Isn't every kind of pasta cooked the same way? By boiling until it's ready?" asked McKenna.

"I mean how to make the sauces. Aglio Olio, and Pesto Genovese. Next weekend I'll learn the Arrabiata and something else I forgot the name of."

"Breakfast will certainly be much better with this bread instead of the sliced stuff from the supermarket," remarked Josephine after swallowing her next bite.

"Yup. But I don't think this loaf will last all week. Next time, make us three or four loaves. We'll all pitch in to pay for them," suggested McKenna.

"Sure! Lorenzo's planning to take over the space next door to the restaurant and turn it into a Gastronomia. We'll be selling this bread, Focaccia, coffee, pasta, and a bunch of other stuff he brings from Italy. It'll also have a wide selection of Aperitifs, and since it'll be open in the summer, it'll be perfectly timed since Italians love their Aperol in the summer."

McKenna raised a curious eyebrow, "What's a Gastronomia? It sounds like a stomach condition."

"I wondered the same thing. It's like a cafe and deli type place that specializes in what are essentially snacks. The number of Italian customers he's getting is on the rise so he figures it could catch on when people see all the Italians gathering there."

Josephine smiled at Maria, "I'm glad to hear you getting excited about this. So it's safe to say you're enjoying your work?"

"Oh hell yes. The full-timers just come in and do their jobs with the minimum of social interaction, so I can't say much about them. As for Chiyomi, I'm not sure if she likes me, but I think she's great. Lorenzo is awesome! The customers are generally great, especially the Italians. They're all Mafia guys but they're a ton of fun!"

" **Mafia?!"** exclaimed Josephine and McKenna.

"Yeah. They do money laundering for the Yakuza and some other boring stuff. I lost interest as soon as I realized none of them were from Sicily or had ever held a gun in their lives. Totally ruined my Godfather and Goodfellas fantasies."

"Does Lorenzo know what kind of customers he has?" asked Josephine while wiping a sweat drop.

"Pretty sure he either is one of them or used to be. But they're all paisan, so it could just be that."

"Paisan?"

"It means 'countrymen.' They're all from Tuscany."

"Oh great…" muttered McKenna. "If you learn nothing else from Tatenashi, learn that there are some things we're all just better off not knowing!"

"I have to agree… But for all the annoyances, it certainly isn't boring around here."

McKenna shook her head, "Nope. That's the one thing this place has never been, and probably will never be. By the way, I got ingredients to make something very special for you. It's gonna be great! I just need to head to town tomorrow and pick up one more thing."

"Then I shall be looking forward to your next turn to cook."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

" **Trash"**

Aisha awoke to the sound of her phone blaring out the call to the morning prayer. She quickly sat up in her bed and then reached over to mute the device.

"Why would a merciful god forbid sleeping in?" she muttered to herself with indignation before she got out of bed to go wash and get ready to pray with her family.

The apartment was big, by Japanese standards, but it was still small by most other standards. The tiny room in the otherwise moderately spacious apartment barely had enough space for half of her things, even with the closet full.

Aisha was still essentially living out of her suitcase. A fact she was reminded of because she tripped over the suitcase on her way out of the room.

Her biggest frustration wasn't even that she was tripping over her own useless belongings, or that she didn't have enough space for all her things. Such would probably be the complaints of the 'normal' girls she knew in the Emirates. Not for Aisha though, her biggest complaint was that she had too many frivolous and useless things she'd like nothing more than to be rid of.

* * *

Meanwhile at the I.S. Academy, Maria Cross awoke in a cold sweat and quickly started feeling her way up and down her body. Once she was satisfied that nothing had actually happened to her she crawled down to the foot of the bed.

She looked over to the side and saw Josephine fast asleep in her bed with the table lamp still illuminating the room. She couldn't see the bunk above her but with no tapping sounds, she guessed McKenna was asleep and not still up chatting with her boyfriend.

She then bent down over the side and walked the front of her body off the bed by her hands until only her feet were still on the mattress. Once she had herself positioned, she started doing push ups.

It had been a while since last had a good work out. With everything that's been going on she figured now was probably as good a time as any to resume her exercise routine, or at least as much of it as she could manage without waking her slumbering roommates.

Once she counted twenty she pulled her feet off the bed and then turned over onto her back and started doing sit ups.

Josephine turned over in her bed and opened her eyes to investigate the strange heavy breathing and grunting sounds emanating from what sounded entirely too close for comfort.

She hoped against all hope that Maria wasn't doing what it sounded like she was doing. She slowly sat herself up to get a better look and then slowly lay herself back down again.

No words she possessed could properly encapsulate the sheer immensity of her relief when she spotted the little ravenette exercising instead of doing the other thing she feared she might have had the audacity to do in the middle of the room.

Normally she might kick herself for assuming the worst, but where Maria Cross was concerned, one could simply never be certain.

* * *

After the morning prayer, Aisha returned to her room and began preparing herself for school. She went into her cabinet and pulled out her school uniform to lay out on her freshly made bed, all the while being careful to avoid tripping on her suitcase again.

"Aisha! When are you going to put away your cloths?!" yelled her mother from outside her door.

"There's no more room in the cabinet…" she replied in an emotionless voice.

"Then pack away what you're not going to wear and put away the suitcase!"

" _Why didn't I think of that? Oh, wait. That's right…"_ she said in her mind.

"You yelled at me when I did that because you needed that space for your bags…"

"Put it somewhere else then! Be clean! This isn't your grandfather's tent!"

Aisha nodded her head, "Yes mother," she said aloud before mentally adding: " _Remember that you said that the next time you yell at him for not wanting to see you..."_

She clenched her teeth while stuffing her suitcase full of whatever she could pull from her closet at random. She just didn't care about any of it.

Material things had no value to her whatsoever. If it were up to her everything here would have been incinerated in favor of nothing but practical clothing.

In no way was she a materialistic person. But she didn't know for sure if that was because of what she learned from her Moroccan family about the true value of things, or her incomprehensibly immense resentment at her father for his continuous efforts to turn her into a living mannequin whose only purpose in life was to display his wealth and status.

She couldn't help but wonder if her father was really stupid enough to believe that merely being able to afford to dress his daughter up in designer clothing and decorate her with ludicrously expensive jewelry would magically inspire people to gossip about something other than his almost nightly excursions to one of Old Dubai's many disreputable night clubs, infamous for their veritable buffets of 'exotic' girls trafficked into the country from around the world to cater to the carnal desires of the insatiable Arabian city of sin.

To make her already frustrating thoughts worse, a quick glance at the uniform on her bed reminded her that it was a school day. She was not looking forward to another long and boring day of literally zero mental stimulation.

* * *

Josephine finally mustered up the will to get up out of bed. Through sleepy eyes she watched Maria doing a set of something with her back to her bed and pushing herself up on her arms.

"Good morning Maria," said Josephine with a dry scratchy voice which let her know in no uncertain terms that she needed water.

"Good morning Josie," replied Maria in a low voice.

"What are you doing?"

"Exercising?"

"I can see that… I've just never seen you do this in the morning."

"Yeah. I let myself get lazy. No more."

"Good for you. But. What are you doing? Specifically? I've never seen anyone do that before."

"Triceps. My routine is to do a set of every muscle group every morning. You should try it. It's a great way to feel good throughout the whole day."

"I'm trying to sleep! So unless you want me to restart my kickboxing routine on your tiny ass, keep it down!" yelled McKenna just before her phone's alarm started blaring. "Shit! So much for that…"

"Good morning Kenny! Sleep well?"

"Sleep? What's that? I have one roomie who games all night and another who watches TV all night! Not even a fucking dead person could sleep in this room!"

"You know McKenna… You've been cursing a lot more recently. It's rather unbecoming," remarked Josephine as she wobbled her way over to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Yeah well…" started McKenna as she jumped down from her bunk. "I've been around the two of you so much I'm not worried about stupid shit like that anymore. Neither of you are afraid to be your worst in front of me, so why should I be?"

"I suppose you have a point," replied Josephine with a refreshed voice after quenching her thirst. "There is something to be said about having people you're comfortable enough with to be your worst in front of."

Maria chose that moment to unleash a loud fart during her next set of crunches.

Josephine and McKenna both glared at her sideways.

"What? I'm just being comfortable with the two of you!"

"Let's not get quite _**THAT**_ comfortable!" yelled the blonde.

* * *

After finally getting done stuffing her suitcase, Aisha had finally managed to get dressed in peace and quiet.

She had to admit as she looked at herself in the mirror, the school uniform looked nice on her. A pleated short navy blue skirt with a white button shirt and a three buttoned charcoal blazer which had a silver lining around the lapels and pockets, the left breast had a pocket with the school crest stitched onto it. Completing the uniform was a red ribbon worn around her shirt's collar which she tied into a neat bow.

School Uniforms. Something she believed they should adopt at her previous school. She found it exhilaratingly liberating to be free from the trappings of wealth and status. There was something to be said about being able to blend like this among her peers. Or at least, as much as she reasonably could. Being a foreigner with her features made her stick out like a sore thumb and no uniform could make her less of an outsider in most respects.

Her frustration was compounded by the fact that she wasn't the only foreigner, but she was the only one who couldn't speak English beyond a few very basic words, so she stood out even among what the Japanese called the 'Gaijins'. A word she understood to mean 'outsider'. Something she would always be no matter where she was, so it didn't bother her as much as it could have.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be left alone with her thoughts for long.

"You were out late on Saturday," she heard her father say in Arabic with a serious and stern tone from her open doorway. "What were you doing?"

" _I was late? You didn't get home until last night!"_ was her first thought.

She turned around to face him with her hands held neatly in front of her. "I was with a friend," she replied in a modest tone.

"You're in a mixed school now, but that doesn't mean I want to hear of you going around all night with boys."

" _Says the one who spent the weekend with a whore…"_

"I wasn't with any boys. The friend I made is from the I.S. Academy. She's a Representative Contender."

"Which country?"

"England. Her name is Josephine."

"I know that name. She has some of our swords."

"Yes. We talked about that. She's also going to be in a competition this week."

"I know. I'm going to be there to watch. If she does well it will help maintain the value of our steal. Keep being friends with her. We need her. Maybe invite her here for dinner so we can meet her."

" _Just keep your eyes off her breasts you dirty man!"_ she mentally yelled at him.

"Yes," she said aloud in her modest voice.

"Are you going to school now?"

" _No. I'm going to the zoo!"_ she yelled inside her head. "Yes," she said aloud.

"Be respectable."

" _Says the world's biggest whoremonger,"_ she thought to herself. "Yes father," she said out loud in that same modest tone which was devoid of anything resembling personality or emotion.

After he left her, she turned back to the mirror to finish adjusting her uniform in silence. But she could have sworn she saw a vein pop in her forehead. She was just glad he kept his distance from her and never tried to hug her or anything like that. Most normal girls would probably crave that kind of affection from their parents, but not so much when one knew their own father was doubtlessly just a walking, talking, petri dish of STD's, albeit, a petri dish made of silver and encrusted with diamonds. Because in her mind, even at his very worst, he's a show-off. A dirty show-off.

* * *

At the IS Academy cafeteria for breakfast, Josephine, Maria, McKenna, Jennifer, Tatenashi, and Mayuzumi were sitting around a table and having their respective breakfast choices.

Maria took a sip of her coffee and her face instantly soured as if she'd just sucked on a lemon, "Oh Jesus-fucking-Christ! What the actual fuck happened to the coffee today? It tastes like it was filtered through the panties of the only whore at the orgy!"

"Why do I feel like you're speaking from experience?" Mayuzumi wondered aloud without actually looking at Maria.

"One of these days Maria, you're going to wake up with your lips glued together so I can enjoy at least one breakfast without horrible images being burned into my mind!" yelled Jennifer.

"I'm with Jenny on that one. Just put some milk in the cup and shut the hell up?" suggested McKenna.

"Good idea. Josie! Fill 'er up!" said Maria while holding her cup under Josephine's breast.

Josephine slowly turned her head to stare into Maria's eyes. "Are you calling me a cow?"

"You've got udders, got milk?"

Josephine rolled her eyes back onto her breakfast.

"I hope you realize that just because she's too nice to insult you back right now, it doesn't mean she won't get you back for this in other ways..." remarked Jennifer.

"I have to agree," added Mayuzumi. "How can you be so rude to the person who is probably your only friend in the world?"

"It's not my fucking fault! I had an erotic dream about drinking milkshakes from her epic milk factories! And don't pretend I'm the only fucking one! I've caught all of you staring at her fun bags at least twice this morning!"

Tatenashi grinned mischievously at the sandy blonde English girl. "Well yeah! Look at them! Especially the way they bounce when she walks, or the way she always has one arm crossed under them to help support them whenever she's sitting down."

Josephine looked down at herself, she hadn't even realized she was doing that. One hand had her coffee, the other arm was indeed being used to support her oversized bosoms.

"Nothing to say to any of that Josie?" asked Maria.

Josephine sighed before setting down her coffee cup, she then started rapping half-heartedly in her most posh accent, "Mine milkshake bringeth all yon gentlefolk to mine yard, and lo they reply, 'tis better than thine, verily, 'tis better than thine, I could apprentice thee, but I wouldst levy a fee."

The whole table around her started laughing hysterically until they were crying with their sides aching.

Mayuzumi finally caught her breath and smiled genuinely at the people around her, "I have to admit, maybe I was wrong about all of you. Sitting with you is a lot of fun sometimes."

* * *

Upon arriving at her school the first thing Aisha did was change her shoes to the slippers everyone wore indoors, something she still wasn't used to, but after a couple of embarrassing episodes with being told off and laughed at in Japanese, she knew she would never again forget to change her shoes. Though she still didn't understand why there were regulations about what shoes she could wear with the uniform if she wouldn't ever be wearing those shoes in school.

After arriving at class 1-3 she seated herself at her assigned desk and prepared for another long day of the usual monotony by pulling out The Three Musketeers. She set the book out across the top of the desk and started reading. But before she could really get into it she felt someone tap her on the top of her head. Her green eyes snapped upwards and were met with a pair of light brown eyes attached to a head of gray hair tied up in twin tails with black ribbons.

Aisha looked at her quizzically while she typed something into her phone and then put it in her face.

" _You came to my work. My colleague is the roommate of your friend. She said I should be friend with you."_

The surprise was written all over her face as she read the message written in hilariously broken French. It was her third week of school and this was the first time one of her classmates made any effort to try and communicate with her. Even if it was in the form of a conversation through Google Translate.

Aisha took out her own phone and launched the Google Translate application into which she started typing in French and then set it to translate to Japanese.

" _Do you actually want to be my friend? I think the class not like me much. I think they think I am too stupid."_

" _They are also stupid."_

Aisha had a little chuckle and smiled at the Japanese girl who started typing into her phone again.

" _From now on I make effort to help you here. For example, did you know you can use this application to translate the text in your book or the board with your phone camera? And if you use the earphones you can have spoken language translated as well?"_

The redhead raised a curious eyebrow as she read that message and then quickly started typing again.

" _They never let us use our phones in class in my old school. Will the teachers get angry if I do that in class?"_

" _I will explain why you are doing for them. So no problem. For now on I guard your back."_

" _Thank you! I never thought to use this like this before. This will help very much. You are so smart!"_

" _No! You just idiot!"_

* * *

Meanwhile, at the IS Academy, Josephine cracked her knuckles and then started typing into the touchscreen on her school desk once she'd gathered her thoughts. The assignment was the definition of simplicity, but a casual glance around the room revealed many tense and frustrated faces while her classmates struggled to figure out how to answer the question posed to the class in essay form.

The question posed to the class by Miss Orimura was simply to explain their understanding of the character of Macbeth so far in the story. The only curiosity was that she opted to do this at the start of class rather than at the end as she usually did.

"Is this going to affect our grades if we don't get it?" asked Daniella without even raising her hand.

"I did say this wasn't optional. So what do you think?" answered a stern Chifuyu.

The Israeli grumbled and turned back to her computer to resume typing.

Maria suddenly started drumming on her desk with two pencils to produce a very annoying beat and only stopped when Chifuyu smacked her across the head with her notebook. Maria cried out in pain, dropped the pencils, and grabbed the back of her head.

"If you want to go back on latrine duty, keep doing what you're doing," she said sternly.

The American rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head, "Understood ma'am."

* * *

After class, the question of why Miss Orimura had opted to begin with Macbeth was answered when she declared that the rest of the morning would be devoted to practical training. She also declared that there would be an examination on what had been covered in the practical training so far after the Class League Tournament.

The students were all in the locker room getting ready for the training sessions. Josephine, Maria, and McKenna were in the process of getting changed together in front of their respective lockers.

"An exam on our IS skills so soon? What about the Representative Contenders? We haven't covered anything they couldn't already do! So why are we the only ones at risk?" asked Daniella.

"What do you mean 'at risk'? At risk of what exactly?" asked Mayuzumi.

"Think about it. All we've covered are fundamental controls. They're worlds ahead of us and we're not getting any kind of opportunity to catch up to them! They trained for what? A full year before coming to the Academy?"

"Two years," Maria interjected.

"Two years?" questioned Josephine. "I only had one year as she said. McKenna?"

"I also had one year, and I also had to stay in school and keep my grades high among a lot of other shit. What gives?"

Maria shrugged, "It was what it was. I didn't get to question it, I just had to do what I was told. I did also get an education, though it was from a group of tutors rather than a formal school education."

"That when you started learning languages and stuff?" asked McKenna.

"Yeah. Music too. So it was a mixed bag. I'm like a real life Powerpuff Girl. Sugar, Spice, and everything nice," she said while unclasping her bra.

"And the accidental extra ingredient, Chemical B, for Bitch. And matching cups..."

"You know me too well Kenny," replied Maria with a wide grin.

Daniella punched her locker, "I think my point stands! They all got extra training, and now they're getting a free ride!"

"It was a ride, but it wasn't free…" muttered Josephine as she rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to getting dressed for training. But then her attention was pulled to her left side when she heard another loud noise from someone slamming their locker door shut and the footfalls of that someone running away.

"Cross! Do you have no shame at all?!" yelled Daniella.

"What the fuck did I do?"

"First you looked up Mayuzumi's skirt, and now you're openly gawking at Hina's..." Daniella quickly grabbed a t-shirt to cover her chest with when she realized Maria wasn't looking at her eyes, "Oh my God! You're fucking gay!"

"No Arad… Don't do this… This isn't right!" exclaimed Mayuzumi.

"She's gay?!" exclaimed two of the other girls in unison while also quickly grabbing whatever they could to cover up with.

"This is unacceptable! Changing in a room with a perverted lesbian is the same as changing in a room with a perverted man!"

That instantly made everyone self-conscious enough to get dressed in a quicker hurry or get out of the American's line of sight. However, Josephine's reaction was to quickly reach out and grab Maria to prevent her from assaulting the Israeli.

"Lemmie go Josie!"

"No! Maria! That won't solve anything! Can't you tell she's baiting you?"

"Can't you tell you're crushing my boobs?!"

Josephine's eyes widened in horror, "Oh shite! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed while dropping the little American.

"In her defense, your breasts are so small there was no way she could tell," remarked McKenna with a snicker while Maria rubbed the sore spots under her B cups and gave her a dirty glare straight into her amber eyes.

Josephine turned to the Canadian with a puzzled look, "Kenny, is this really the time for petty insults?"

"It is for me, I'm choosing to ignore the other thing going on because it's too stupid to take seriously."

Daniella stepped up into McKenna's personal space, "So the fact that we're not comfortable being leered at is too stupid for you to take seriously? Are you fucking queer too maybe?"

"Shut your slut mouth and back the fuck off!" exclaimed McKenna while roughly shoving the still topless Israeli out of her personal space.

"Oh shit! You've provoked the Canadian into hurling a sharp insult. What will you do?" asked a girl in a thick Russian accent.

The Canadian then turned an angry glare around the room. "Fuck off Slutski! How many of you fucking cumsluts have I seen dressing like whores to go out on the town and be ogled by boys?" she then pointed at Daniella, "Including you, slut face! What a fucking hypocrite!"

While she wanted nothing more than to take a stand beside McKenna right now, Josephine had to remain next to Maria, just in case she needed to pull her back again. A quick glance at the little ravenette's almost flaming red eyes told her that she was about to snap at any moment and she'd need to be ready to restrain her if anyone were to be foolish enough to provoke her right now.

"They say that when you get a Canadian to attack you, you know you've gone and fucked up! Hahaha!" laughed another girl.

McKenna locked eyes with a few other girls who glared back at her with anger. "You're all fucking hypocrites! Fucking dumb sluts freaking out because you're getting sexual attention from another girl?! How hypocritical can you fucking cum dumpsters be?! I've got a lot of problems with Maria, but her being gay isn't one of them. If I can comfortably live with her, bunk with her, and even be naked in front of her at home without ever having a problem, then you can all change in the same room as her."

Daniella stepped back up into McKenna's personal space, "You're very defensive. Maybe you like the attention you get from her, but we don't! We have a right to feel secure in the locker room! And don't call us sluts! Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Where the fuck do you get off publicly outing someone like that? You wanna talk about shamelessness?! Maria's a fucking fucked up psycho bitch! But if you wanna get on her ass about something, pick something about her that's actually her own fucking fault! Like her bitchy attitude or massive ego! Not her sexuality! Now get out of my face before I knock the teeth out of your slut mouth and foot-fuck your slut hole!"

Maria's previously furious and flaming red eyes softened as she watched McKenna take on the whole class.

"Go ahead and try it!" yelled Daniella who put up her fists and spaced out her legs, ready to fight.

Maria's eyes instantly reignited while she quickly lifted up her fist. But before she could move, she was caught by Josephine who started dragging her away. "No Maria! You'll get expelled if you do it! You're on thin ice as it is!"

At the same time that Josephine stopped Maria, McKenna balled up a fist and threw a punch at the Israeli. However, her fist was caught and she was thrown across the room into a set of lockers just as Maria forced her way out of Josephine's grip and then she suddenly paused and widened her eyes when she saw what had happened.

"The only place I want to see topless people boxing is on Pay Per View!" yelled Chifuyu.

"Hoooly shhhiiit!" exclaimed Maria.

McKenna stood up and wobbled on her legs. "Oof, that's gonna leave a mark, absolute defense my ass..." she said indignantly while tapping her ring in irritation.

"It only triggers in standby mode if your life's in actual danger. Now everyone shut up and fall in! Right now!" exclaimed Chifuyu. She then looked down at Daniella who was looking up at her fearfully. "Arad. Go cover up. Tremblay and Cross, you too!"

The Israeli looked down at herself and turned beet red before quickly running to get the top of her piloting suit on.

"Yes ma'am," replied Maria while moving towards her locker to finish dressing.

"Williams. Give me a summary of what happened in here," demanded the teacher.

"Yes ma'am," replied Josephine while pulling on her own top. Once she had it on she looked around the room to quickly gather her recollections, "From my point of view, Arad yelled out that Maria was a lesbian and accused her of staring at someone's breasts. I wasn't looking so I can't tell you if it's true or not."

"Cross. Were you checking someone out?"

"Umm... I don't know if you could call it that. They were there, I looked, then I realized what I was doing, and looked away. I guess she overreacted."

"Are you actually gay? Or are they just misunderstanding something?" asked Chifuyu in a softer voice while looking into Maria's red eyes.

"I am."

"Would you consider yourself openly gay, or do you prefer to keep it to yourself?"

"Why does that matter?! She's perving out on us! Violating us!" yelled Daniella.

"It matters because if you're trying to force her to out herself then it's a more serious matter than it otherwise would have been..."

Maria shrugged her shoulders, "I never advertised it, but I never tried to hide it either. It just never came up before this. I told Josephine when I first met her, just in case she'd be uncomfortable… Because you know… living together."

Josephine nodded, "And I wasn't uncomfortable at all."

"You never gave me that courtesy!" growled McKenna after getting her own top on.

"Did I ever perv on you?"

" _ **Yes!**_ You're always going on about my legs!"

"Does it bother you?"

" _ **No!"**_

"Then what's the problem?"

"You told Josephine but not me! I only found out when you told Tatenashi!"

"To be fair McKenna, she omitted a small little detail which might help you feel less offended right now. When we first met, she was strongly telegraphing her interest in me, so it was necessary to establish my heterosexuality to her before it became awkward between us. But we did settle the matter with no awkwardness between us."

"Well I do that with Tatenashi every single day and she doesn't lay off!"

Maria rolled her eyes, "Why do I feel like what you're really pissed about is that you attract people of both genders like a magnet? We should all have such problems."

McKenna palmed her face, "I can't believe we're having this conversation right now..."

"Alright! Enough! I understand the situation now!" yelled Chifuyu, "How many of you have a problem with being in the locker room with an openly gay person?" she asked while looking around the room to see everyone's hands up except for the three contenders and Mayuzumi who wandered away from the class and was now standing close to the Representatives.

"Alright. Now. I want everyone who has _**never once**_ looked at someone else's naked body in the locker room to put their hands down, and don't try to lie about it. I will go through the security footage to point out all your wandering eyes if I have to, and yes they do have the resolution for that! You four, you can put your hands up for this, don't try to bullshit me now!"

"Big Brother is even in the locker room… That's rather disturbing…" muttered Josephine. She then sighed deeply and put her hand up, along with McKenna and Maria.

Mayuzumi too slowly raised her hand while lowering her head with a bright blush, though she wasn't sure if it was because she's being forced to admit something she'd rather not, or because the security cameras in the locker room were suddenly much more visible to her.

When all the hands were raised, Chifuyu's lips curled up into a sinister grin, "Now don't you all look and feel incredibly stupid?"

Everyone put their hands down. One could feel an awkwardness in the air as nobody allowed their eyes to meet with anyone else's.

"But ma'am... It's not the same thing!" yelled Daniella.

"Yes, it is. The motivations are different, but the end result is the same. Everyone peeks. Be it out of curiosity, envy, or even disgust. Everyone's looked at everyone. It's natural. If Cross peeks out of lust, take it as a compliment and move on. You're not compelled to interact with her just because she thinks you're attractive. If she harassed you or touched you inappropriately, it would be another matter, but that didn't happen."

"She did it to Mayuzumi! She peeked up her skirt and started talking about-" started one student before she was promptly cut off by a furious Mayuzumi.

" **SHUT UP!** Don't get me involved in this! That's my problem and it's none of your business!"

"Whatever! But it's still gross ma'am! She's looking at us sexually! Like we said before it's like having a man in here! There's a reason why changing rooms are gender segregated, and this is exactly why!"

"Yeah! It's so we can change without being leered at!" yelled another girl.

"But she's not a man!" yelled Chifuyu. "And she's not standing there drooling over all of you. As far as I can tell she's been perfectly respectful of all of you. She slipped up once when she spotted a pair she liked and looked for a little too long. So what? Are we going to lynch for that?"

"She just got caught this one time… What if she keeps doing it?" asked another girl.

"So what if she does? Why is it different from looking at someone and wishing you had their ass or feeling proud that you have better breasts? Hell, how is it any different from how any of you look at whatever boys you like? The only difference I see is that someone caught someone looking and for whatever reason freaked out and then someone else decided to take what was a harmless glance and a simple overreaction and turned it into a harmful confrontation..." Chifuyu then palmed her face and sighed in exasperation, "Honestly, this is why dealing with children is so damn tiresome. There are proper ways of dealing with these kinds of things. But I guess subtlety and discretion are foreign concepts to you idiots."

Arad glared incredulously at Chifuyu, "But ma'am!"

"Shut it! This discussion is over. If you're too homophobic to change in front of her, you have my permission to use the classroom. That goes for anyone else who has a problem with it. Now hurry up and get dressed! Class has been delayed long enough!"

"That's bullshit! She's the pervert! She should use the classroom! Not us! How is that fair?"

"What do you suggest we do, Arad? Hmm? Shall we stick a triangle on her? You know, so they know not to let her into the locker rooms, toilets, or the baths? Is that what you're suggesting? Because we know where _**that**_ road goes. So come on, out with it, what's your suggestion?"

Daniella dropped her jaw and stared at the woman in disbelief.

"When you when you come up with your own 'final solution' to this problem, let me know. Now everyone get out into the arena before I _**really**_ get pissed off!"

"There are baths in this school? How come we never knew about that?" asked Maria.

"Would you use a public bath?" asked Josephine.

"Hell no. But that's not the point!"

Josephine shut her locker and looked down at Maria, "What is your point then?"

"She just wants to go stare at naked girls… Disgusting dirty bitch…" muttered a classmate as she walked by.

Josephine once again had to restrain the little American, which she realized, wasn't as easy as one might assume, she was small, but she was strong. She found it remarkable that she never paid enough attention to Maria to notice that her body was chiseled out of stone! At least, that's what it felt like while she was fully tensed up and ready to strike.

Never in her life was she more thankful for her training than she was in this moment. A year ago, she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she never would have been able to restrain her.

"Maria! Pull yourself together! If you give into that aggressive impulse you're going to be expelled!"

"What's it to you if I get thrown out?! Huh?! I'm not gonna take that shit from them!"

"You're my friend! I don't want to lose you! If our friendship means anything to you, then don't give in to that urge! Let me help you fight back properly!"

She felt Maria relax under her grip and then slowly let her go.

"Alright… We'll do it your way," said Maria as she started walking away.

Josephine stepped up her pace to keep up, just in case.

Mayuzumi slowly walked back to her locker to close it after everyone else had left. She felt a pressure in her gums and realized her teeth were clenched tightly. She took a slow, deliberate breath through her nose and slowly exhaled it through her mouth to release the tension she'd built up.

This whole scene was her fault and now there was nothing she could do to take it back. Even though she knew how she felt about Maria Cross, this course of action was causing her heart to ache. It just didn't feel right. After she had said she was willing to do anything to stick it to her, now that the moment had come, she couldn't stand the idea of what had just happened.

She punched her locker in fit of frustration.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aisha looked at the whiteboard through her phone screen which translated what was written on the board into French for her so she could follow along with the class. The Three Musketeers sat forgotten on the side of her desk as she took notes. Her earphones translated the spoken language of the teacher to her, and she couldn't help but be impressed with how well it actually worked. The teacher wasn't speaking broken French to her, it was actually translating properly.

Unfortunately, the translator also caught what some of the other students were saying about her…

"Is the outsider actually playing with her phone in the middle of class?"

"Yes, she is. She's not even trying to hide it. What a stupid outsider."

"Shut up!" exclaimed Chiyomi. "She's using the phone to translate the classwork! Mind your business!"

"Eat shit, Chiyomi."

"Be quiet! Chiyomi-san, I won't have you disrupting class again. Behave yourself or we'll have to call your mother this time," declared the teacher.

Aisha watched with a sad heart as Chiyomi grit her teeth and looked forward, "Like she would take your call if you're not paying her."

"Chiyomi-san. We'll be meeting with the principal after class."

"Yes, teacher. As you wish."

There were hushed snickers and murmurs from the students while the teacher turned back to the board and resumed lecturing.

Meanwhile, Aisha put her phone down and then took off her earphones. She stuffed them into her jacket pocket before picking up the Three Musketeers and opened to where she'd left off.

It just wasn't worth getting that girl into trouble over.

* * *

Josephine, McKenna, and Maria sat on the side of the arena, backs to the wall, and cold water bottles in their hands. The class was focused on fundamental controls, but the three of them were made to demonstrate more advanced techniques designed to show the class where they were going with what they were learning.

"Kenny…"

McKenna's amber eyes slowly drifted to Maria with a neutral yet somewhat irate edge to them, "What is it?"

"I just wanted to… to say... thanks. For back there. You know."

"Don't thank me. I didn't do anything to be thanked for. I just did the fucking right thing. I didn't do it out of friendship or any sense of obligation to you. The only reason I did anything was because they were fucking wrong and needed to be put in their fucking places. That was all it was. You don't thank the sky for being blue, or the water for being wet. So don't thank me for that. Got it?"

"Got it…"

Josephine pulled her phone out of her bag and started searching for information rather than participate in that conversation.

"What're you up to Josie?" asked McKenna.

"I'm just curious as to why Arad was so hostile in the locker room. Israel, to my knowledge, is one of the best countries when it comes to gay rights."

McKenna raised a lecturing finger, "They're also one of the worst when it comes to human rights in general."

"Indeed, but let's separate these issues for the moment. We're not going to get very far with her by attacking her on her country's policies towards the Palestinians."

"You can't just Google someone's thought processes, Josie. You need to search on Facebook for that level of personal information. Besides, why do you even care? I couldn't really give a fuck," said Maria.

"I know you don't, but I do! I need to know why she hates you so much so I can understand what the root of the problem is. She couldn't have known you were gay on day one? Unless you tried to flirt with her?"

"Oh fuck no! She's so totally not my type. Avigale on the other hand. She was a total hottie..." she replied and then shivered with visible excitement.

"The one who was with Daniella at the restaurant?"

"Yeah. She's Israel's Representative Cadet. She was kind, sweet, mature, and a total babe..."

"Thank you, Maria. But I'm not really interested in your preferences right now. I'm more concerned with trying to understand what this girl is planning. She's clearly got a goal which we three seem to be in the way of."

"No fucking idea and I don't particularly give a shit. I've got better things to think about. Like your hot Arab-Berber friend," said Maria with a smirk at Josephine. "Think she might swing my way?"

"Seeing as how I'm not your pimp, it never came up. If you're interested, maybe you should try talking to her on your- Wait… Wait just a moment… How on Earth did you figure out her ethnicity?! All you did was serve her a bloody latte!"

Maria shrugged under Josephine's scrutinizing glare, "The way she speaks French, it's western African. She's also white with red hair, which means she's Berber. But she's fucking loaded with money because she was wearing expensive as fuck designer clothes and jewelry. Thanks to the Sahara War, they're all broke as shit in that part of the world. So to be loaded, I'm guessing she's half Gulf Arab. Probably from the Emirates, because if she's here, her daddy must be one of those playboy millionaires from Damascus Armory."

Josephine slowly clapped. "Impressive. That was all exactly correct. But how the bloody hell do you know any of that?"

"Part of my education and training with U.S. Air Force intelligence. While I learned languages I trained to identify dialects. I'm pretty good at it because I'm good with music. I can hear the subtle clues other people might miss. Not to mention I find other cultures to be utterly fascinating, so I read about them. Because of the war, I got to read a lot about the countries involved."

McKenna rolled her eyes in annoyance, "So, that girl, think her family fights in that war?"

Josephine nodded, "She mentioned she has uncles and cousins fighting the E.U. and U.S. in Mali."

"Damn. So they're like Al-Qaeda and ISIS?"

Maria started laughing hysterically with Josephine snickering as well.

"What's so funny?!"

"McKenna, my dear, tell me, do you know what the Sahara War is about at all?" asked Josephine.

"Yeah. It's anti-terrorism, trying to stop the spread of radical Islam in Africa."

Maria started laughing hysterically, "Hahahaha! Oh my god, I can't believe anyone actually believes that bullshit!"

"Alright so enlighten me! I'm sorry that Canada is too busy keeping you Americans off our lawn to join the party in the desert!"

Josephine lifted up a lecturing finger, "ISIS and Al-Qaeda don't exist anymore. Al-Qaeda died out in 2020 and ISIS in 2021, yet the war persists. No dear, this war is all about Uranium. The western Sahara, particularly Northern Mali holds the world's largest untapped deposits, worth trillions of Euros. The war started with the Tuareg fighting the French back in the early 2010s during what they called the 'Arab Spring' because the Uranium is on their land. American involvement goes back to the early 2000s when they started arming the West African militaries as part of a so-called war on terrorism. Then a U.S. President who got a Nobel Peace Prize started doing Drone Strikes all over Africa, and then things started to escalate rapidly from there until we got to the full-blown multinational shooting war which could rapidly escalate into a third world war at any moment."

Maria nodded, "For us, it's all about the arms sales. To our own military, and to the Africans as well. The more bombs that drop, the more dollars we make. We won't get a cut of the Uranium, but by the time the Europeans can start exploiting it, we'll have made trillions upon trillions of dollars in munitions sales. Best thing is, we're even selling weapons to the people using them against us! All the best photos of that war are of the body parts of American soldiers next to bomb casings that say made in the US of FUCKING A dropped on them by enemy soldiers trained by the fucking US of mother fucking A. Aaaamericaaa! FUCK YEAH!"

McKenna sighed, "You patriotism is amazing…"

"I'm amazed that you know more about past wars than you do about current wars!" remarked Maria.

"I should probably know as much about current wars I do about past ones… Guess I didn't really care because Canada isn't involved in the Sahara."

"The U.K. is getting involved soon to provide support to the E.U. which means Canada won't be far behind. It's a brutal, nightmarish, horrific, mess under the sweltering desert sun."

"That's putting it mildly. As of this morning, the death toll passed three million," remarked Chifuyu as she approached the trio.

"Miss Orimura!" exclaimed Josephine as she and her two companions stood up for her.

"What can we do for you ma'am?" asked McKenna.

"As you know, there will be an examination on basic IS control abilities and student fitness levels. But for the Representative Contenders that exam will be a bit different. I will now explain what will be expected of you so you can be prepared."

"Yes ma'am!" the three answered in unison.

"The first test will be of your ground movement abilities where you will be timed through an obstacle course in the main arena. The second test will be of your weapon mastery, don't worry, each of you will have a course designed to test your abilities with your individual weapon loadouts. Finally, flight abilities, where you will each be expected to handle your frames at the limits of their capabilities through a randomized flight track around the island which will naturally be generated based on the capabilities of your individual frames. Nobody expects the Vimy Glide to move at the same speed as the Meteor the same way nobody expects Falkirk's Fury to execute a precision artillery strike. Any questions so far?"

McKenna raised her hand. "Yes ma'am. The Vimy Glide wasn't exactly designed with any sort of emphasis on flight capabilities, it's a ground pounder. So what's the point of putting it through a test like that?"

"It's not the IS we're testing, it's the pilot. Each personal IS has its own strengths and weaknesses, but all pilots are expected to be able to handle their IS to the limits of its capabilities and constantly strive to push the envelope. Just because your IS wasn't designed with an emphasis on flight doesn't mean it isn't capable of flight, and thus I expect you to be capable of flying it through a simple course. Any other questions? Preferably one which isn't stupid?"

"Any test of our combat abilities ma'am?" asked Maria.

"Not this time. But you've had plenty of opportunities to show off your own. We're only testing your piloting abilities with this exam. You can test your combat abilities in the coming tournaments."

Maria nodded, "Understood."

"Anything else?"

"Yes ma'am," answered Josephine with her hand slightly raised.

"What is it, Williams?"

"When will the exam take place?"

"End of next week."

"Understood."

"As for what happened in the locker room, we'll discuss that another time. For now, I'd like you three to help Miss Yamada with a demonstration. She'll give you the details."

"Yes ma'am!" the three answered in unison.

* * *

" _I think I made a friend in school today. She's in my class, and she also works with your friend Maria."_

Josephine smiled down at the text message she received and then started typing a response.

" _I'm so happy to hear that!"_

 _"She suggested that I should use my phone in class to translate for me. For the first time, I could actually follow along. It was a nice feeling."_

" _That's very good! But why do I feel like something went wrong?"_

" _You're very intuitive. While I was listening to the translations, my phone was also translating what the other students were saying. They were talking badly about me. That girl tried to defend me but she lost. I've never felt so guilty in my life. So I just put the phone away and started reading the Musketeers."_

She frowned at her phone while considering her answer to that for a moment before she finally started typing.

" _And in doing so, you invalidated her struggle. You shouldn't give up so easily, Aisha."_

" _Oui, you're right. But I felt so bad. I just didn't want to deal with it."_

" _Struggles are a natural part of life. We all have a battle to fight. This is yours. Don't surrender before you've even tried to fight it."_

" _Good advice my friend. Thank you. I will try harder."_

"So what's for dinner that you had to leave the pot on for the whole day?" asked Josephine while typing her next response.

McKenna put on a very smug smile while stirring the pot, "Something very special, one of the best-kept secret recipes from the wild lands of Canada!"

Maria stepped out of the bathroom and tipped on her toes to look over McKenna's shoulder down into the pot. "So the secret special meal of Canada isn't bacon, but chili?"

"Mhmm, with a little secret ingredient I smuggled into the school because I was craving this," she replied before pouring some whiskey into the pot.

Maria smirked up at the brunette, "You know that I will sleep with you. I'm still seduced by the locker room thing. You don't have to get me drunk to get me into your bed, or even mine."

"Alright. Firstly, eeew. Secondly, the alcohol cooks off and you just get left with the flavor."

Josephine glanced curiously at the Canadian in the kitchen, "How did you smuggle it in? They check everything at the monorail station?"

"Ahh. My ancestors weren't all just soldiers. They were enterprising entrepreneurs as well! After the First World War, my Great Grandfather went home to Quebec, sold everything, then moved out to the Yukon to work in the mining business. Then the Americans, being the gloriously stupid shits that they are, began prohibition. So my Great Grandfather went into business with some other people moving Canadian Whiskey across the border into Alaska by plane and got filthy, stinking, rich. By the end of prohibition, he was so rich that the next four generations of his family could live on this huge plot of land in the Yukon with a big beautiful house. So yeah. Smuggling is in my blood!"

"So your family wealth comes from the prohibition era?"

"I wouldn't call it 'wealth' exactly. The land has value, but my father and big brother are the providers. Problem is army salaries aren't any better now than they were then. We just take care of what we have."

McKenna then started beaming a happy smile.

Maria smiled as well once she saw that smile, "Damn you have a beautiful smile! What's going through your head?"

McKenna shook her head and ignored the ravenette's compliment. "Just remembering good times. Every winter we'd set a Dutch oven with beans to cook in the morning, and then take a walk outside our house into the forest and hunt for Deer."

Maria smiled along with McKenna, "Ohh, that sounds awesome!"

"You actually killed deer?" asked Josephine with wide-eyed horror.

"Yeah. Only certain kinds though. We have too much of one, and not enough of the other. Mostly thanks to all the fracking and drilling in Alaska we got shit loads of animals migrating over, so we have to help with conservation efforts by culling the populations of various wildlife."

Maria stepped over towards Josephine, "You also do that with all the humans trying to migrate over."

"No. That's a misconception which I will be happy to correct for you later when we can have a long and proper talk about it."

Josephine chose to ignore the other conversation, silently hoping they wouldn't go into it later as promised, and instead focused on her own, "But Bambi's mother! You actually shot Bambi's mother?!"

"Shot Bambi's mama, papa... Shot the bunny, and Bambi too. I ate so much deer one winter I thought I might grow antlers!"

"You shot a bunny?!"

"Ate it too. Rabbit Stew is the best stew!"

Maria clapped her hands, "Oh hell yes! Wanna make some rabbit stew next week? We could visit a pet shop and get a _really_ big bunny to feed all of us!"

"NO!" yelled Josephine at the top of her lungs, "I forbid the cooking of live animals in this dorm room!"

"What if we kill it before we bring it home?" asked Maria.

"Yeah! I'll even skin it before bringing it inside. So come on? Please?"

"Absolutely not! If it did not come from a reputable environmentally conscientious grocery store, you may not cook it!"

McKenna gave the blonde a sideways glance, "When did you turn Vegan? You do realize that all the meat at the butcher shop comes from what was once a live animal right?"

"Yes! But I'll not have you turning a pet shop into a butchery! I realize you're both hillbilly yokels at heart, but we'll not be entertaining such ludicrous ideas in this room!"

McKenna glanced sideways to Maria. "I'll get the bunny, after we get it back in the room, you hold her down while I tie her up."

Josephine held up her left arm and materialized the arm of her Infinite Stratos with one of her twin short shorts held firmly in its mechanical hand, an unsettling smile formed across her lips.

"Please. Go right ahead. Make my day."

"The English Dirty Harry! That's so fucking sexy!"

"No bunny stew! Understood?" she said while dematerializing the arm and weapon.

"Aww, you're just no-" before Maria could finish her sentence there was a loud knock on the door. "I guess I'll get that. It's probably for me," she said before moving over to the door.

"Shit!" whispered McKenna while looking around for a place to stash her bottle. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"McKenna!" exclaimed Josephine while clapping her hands.

The Canadian quickly tossed her the bottle which she caught and then stuffed into her bag while Maria unlocked the door and opened it for Chifuyu Orimura.

"Took you long enough!" she growled while storming in.

"Good evening ma'am. How can we help you?" asked Maria while closing the door behind her.

"What's cooking tonight?" she asked in a tone that was more demanding of a place at the table rather than simple curiosity, and indeed she did seat herself at their table while Josephine promptly began clearing of their textbooks and her laptop.

"Chili, a secret speciality of the Yukon Territory," answered McKenna. "Should be ready in about three minutes."

"Good. I'll wait," she said in a cryptic tone which wouldn't betray any hints of what sort of mood she was in.

* * *

" _Our teacher just came to our dorm room. Which means we're in trouble for something."_

Aisha blinked and reread the message before typing up a quick response.

" _What did you do?"_

" _Take your pick: McKenna smuggled alcohol into the school for cooking, which I am presently hiding in my bag and hoping against hope that my teacher doesn't look inside it. McKenna and Maria also tried to beat up the Israeli for publicly outing Maria as a lesbian while we were changing for practice today. But I think the worst thing I did was refuse to allow my roommates to buy a rabbit from the pet shop to use in a stew."_

 _"Haraam. Poor bunny! :*("_

" _I know right? Who does this?"_

"Aisha! Stop using the phone at the table!" yelled her obese mother.

The redhead closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves before pocketing her phone.

"Pay attention to your brother!" yelled her father. "His food is going everywhere except his mouth!"

As much as Aisha truly adored the little toddler which was her brother, her stomach just couldn't handle watching him fail at eating. Something told her that her parents had the same reaction and thus pushed the duty off onto her. After vomiting into her mouth a little, she steeled herself and then started feeding him. Mercifully, he was more used to her now than he was to their own mother, and thus he was more cooperative with her when she brought food up to his mouth.

She reached into her pocket to pull up her phone and took a picture of her little brother to send to Josephine.

Her mother slapped her hand down onto the table, "I told you not to use the phone at the table!"

"I'm just taking a picture of him..."

* * *

Josephine smirked at the picture of the little boy sent to her from Aisha. She then lifted up her phone to snap a picture of Maria which she captioned _'I have one of those as well.'_

"Mmmm! Oh my god, this chili is orgasmic!" exclaimed Maria while shoving the beans and sauce into her mouth, and on the sides of her mouth, and down on her chin as well. "I just wanna drown in it!"

"Well, as far as praise for my cooking goes, that's certainly one of the messier ones I've gotten..." remarked the brunette while tossing a napkin at the little American.

Josephine sighed with irritation, "Maria, do wipe your face, I've literally just received photographic evidence of a three-year-old with better table manners."

"Must be the secret ingredient..." muttered McKenna.

Chifuyu nodded, "Mmm. Got any more of that secret ingredient? I actually think you skimped."

McKenna paused and slowly looked up with a nervous sweat drop forming, "I don't know what you mean ma'am..."

"If you think I don't know Jack, you've got another thing coming. Hand it over, and don't try and tell me it's all gone."

"Yes ma'am..." replied McKenna while giving Josephine a nod.

Josephine sighed and reached into her bag at the foot of the table and pulled up the small bottle of Jack Daniel's which she then placed into Chifuyu's waiting hand. She then opened the bottle and poured a dash more into her dish before taking a swig from the bottle, she then closed it back up and shoved it into her jacket pocket. But instead of saying anything, she just stirred the whiskey into her dish and started eating again.

Maria looked around the table before shrugging, "Ok... That happened..."

"If it helps anything... I really only bought that to use for cooking..." McKenna said softly.

"And if it helps anything, I really only confiscated it because I _**need**_ to drink it because that's how much you three piss me off."

"Ma'am? Am I correct in the assumption that you didn't come to our room simply to partake of McKenna's cooking?"

"You are. Though I gotta say, I'm impressed as usual with the cooking. You two are pretty decent chefs. Not like the last bunch I visited, their idea of dinner was microwaved ramen," replied the instructor while taking some bread to dip into the chili sauce and then ate it. "Mmm. Where'd you get this bread?"

Josephine motioned towards the sloppy eater, "Maria baked it at the restaurant she works at."

Chifuyu nodded, "I'll drop in and buy some when I get a chance. Which brings us to the next topic. It's come to my attention that you've all been caught drinking at that Italian place on Gaijin street. That, combined with this bottle in my pocket, says you're all getting a little too comfortable here."

Josephine nodded, "I'd hardly call a glass of wine or a digestive after dinner cause for concern. But I believe that guilt only pertains to myself and McKenna. Maria happens to be employed there, so she would hardly imbibe on the job."

"And that Jack really was just for the chili ma'am..."

"Cook something else. Personally, I don't give a crap if you're gonna 'imbibe' on your own time, because god knows teenagers are going to do that and other stupid things no matter what anyone tells them, but don't even think about bringing it to school. I'm only letting you off with a warning this time because so far I've got two joints, a bottle of Adderall, a live octopus, a mountain of paperwork, and a growing migraine."

"And the night is young," remarked Maria with a smirk.

"What the hell was someone doing a live freaking octopus?" wondered McKenna.

Josephine looked at her teacher in bewilderment, "Adderall and Marijuana make sense. But the octopus? I'm also curious. A pet? A science experiment?"

Maria offered up a devious smirk, "I've seen enough late night anime by now to know what the octopus was for."

"Thank you for that, Cross. I think I'll be using this Jack instead of mouthwash to bleach my brain…" muttered Chifuyu.

"No need to go that far. We could just head out on the balcony after dinner and light up?" said a snickering Maria.

Chifuyu narrowed her eyes at the American, "You think this is funny?"

"Isn't it? You're so stressed out you could probably use a good spliff, and now you've got two."

"Damn straight I could. But I don't get to relax like that. I have to run around dealing with all the shit you three cause in addition to my other responsibilities."

Josephine took a deep breath and braced herself for the result of her next question, "May I ask what else we may have done?"

"How do you think I know about you drinking in town? There was a line of your classmates waiting in queue outside my room to bitch and moan about all of you. You're surrounded by snitches. Do something about it!"

Maria shrugged, "Like what? Sharpen my toothbrush and shank 'em in the showers?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of you three doing a better job of trying to reach out and make friends among your classmates. Show them you're not so bad?" her gaze then fell on Maria, "Well, two out of three. Figure something out for Cross. I've got nothing."

"We're certainly aware of our situation ma'am, and I can assure you we will be taking the necessary steps towards resolving it, while also keeping Maria on a tight leash."

Maria looked up at Josephine and made a sad puppy noise.

"Good. Now since I've pocketed the key ingredient, may I have the recipe for this chili?"

McKenna smiled and nodded before reaching into her bag at the foot of the table to extract her notebook. "With pleasure ma'am."

"One more thing," she said while pulling out the two joints she confiscated earlier and took a quick smell of them. "In case any of you were thinking about smoking up, the weed we get here is imported from China, and according to the city police reports, it's laced with enough pesticide to kill a horse. It's already killed three people in town and put one student in the infirmary. I'm going to have the student council post warnings about that around the school."

Josephine shook her head, "Marijuana isn't one of my vices, even if studies show it's far safer than the consumption of alcohol."

"It's perfectly legal in Canada if I ever wanted it. So why would I bother with Chinese crap?"

"It's still highly illegal in Japan, not to mention smoking anything is banned at the academy. Get caught with it here, and you're in deep shit with me. But get caught with it on the mainland, and you could be jailed and deported."

Josephine raised an eyebrow at that, "That's a little harsh isn't it?"

Chifuyu slowly nodded while putting the joints away, "Blame our lawmakers. People with no vices tend to have very annoying virtues..."

Josephine squished her face as she squeezed her brain to recall that expression, "Elizabeth Taylor?"

"Very good, Williams. I'll get you a gold star tomorrow. Now one more thing before I continue my rounds. You mentioned Cross has a job?"

Chifuyu narrowed her gaze on Maria who in turn shrank in her seat and gulped. "Yes ma'am. I'm a waitress at Bianchi's. The Italian place they 'imbibe' at."

"Come to the faculty office after school tomorrow, there's paperwork you and your employer need to fill out and sign. You'll also have to submit copies of all of your pay slips. It's a legal formality, so take it seriously."

"Understood ma'am."

"Now. I'm guessing that since you didn't know that, you haven't read your student handbooks. I suggest you do that. I may or may not issue a pop quiz on the contents. In the meantime... I need to decide your punishment for this contraband."

"Didn't you say you were letting us off with a warning?"

"The warning will be in Tremblay's record. But like I said before, you're all too comfortable here..."

The three girls all audibly gulped at the harsh expression on their teacher's face as she prepared to pass sentence upon them.

* * *

"At least it's better than cleaning the bathrooms..." remarked Maria while picking up litter from the ground with a gloved hand which she then tossed it into a large trash bag she was holding in her other hand. "But not by much…"

Josephine meanwhile was also collecting trash and throwing it into her own bag. "I'll take your word for it... When Miss Orimura said to clean up litter from around the dorm buildings... I never would have imagined there would be this much out here. Can't people use the bloody rubbish bins in their own bloody rooms? Why toss a soda can out the window?"

"Oh my God... **Oi! Which of you fuckin' douchebags threw a douchebag down here?! Throw it oot in your own fuckin' room eh?!** " yelled McKenna at the side of the dorm building while quickly throwing the offending article into her own trash bag.

"Holy shit! Hahahahaha!" laughed Maria with Josephine also chuckling.

"What the hell is so freaking funny?!" demanded McKenna.

"You said 'oot' and 'eh' in the same sentence! I've never heard you sound like a stereotype before this!"

"I only do it when I'm pissed off to the max!"

"Cigarette butts... Douchebags... Oh dear lord, there's a tampon here..." complained Josephine.

"I found a roach!" exclaimed Maria.

"You're a germaphobe, why are you happy about finding a-" yelled McKenna and then silenced herself when she saw what Maria was actually holding, "Oh. That kind of roach."

"Yeah. Got a good few hits left in it too, looks like this is what they were smokin' when Miss Orimura busted them."

"Wanna save it for later? I think we've earned it."

"You wanna smoke someone else's roach? I ain't putting my lips on this. Remember what she said about the pesticides and someone being put in the infirmary. Besides, considering some of the shit we found around here, this place needs to be sanitized with fucking _**napalm!**_ "

McKenna nodded, "Good point. Toss it."

"I wonder which dumbass ended up in the infirmary after smoking this?"

"How would she have known what it would do it for her? If she'd smoked it anywhere else she might have died. So all things considered, she's probably lucky she smoked it here instead of wherever else."

Josephine sighed, "It's starting to get dark..."

"If you wanna go inside, go ahead. We'll come in once it's too dark to see," suggested Maria.

"It's fine. I can stay out a bit longer."

"Josie! Please just go inside. It's totally fine. We got this."

"Fine..." she replied with a heavy sigh, "I suppose I'll go get dinner started then."

She started walking away, leaving the two behind to continue picking up litter on their own when she heard a soul-shattering scream from behind her that brought her to a dead halt. Josephine and McKenna both turned around to see Maria covered in garbage, her eyes were shut tightly and she started running around in a blind panic.

Josephine ran up to try and calm her while McKenna instinctively summoned the right arm of her IS. The lid on the forearm flipped open while she directed her sonic cannon up at the building.

" **Who the fuck did that?!"**

* * *

Later a gentle knock came at their door and Josephine quickly opened it up, "I'm so sorry to bother you with this Miss Yamada, we didn't know what else to do."

Maya smiled sincerely the blonde student, "You did exactly the right thing, Miss Williams. Is she still in the shower?"

Josephine nodded and stepped back to let the bespectacled teacher into the room and gestured with her hand towards the bathroom door. "She's been in there for a very long time now. McKenna, Tatenashi and I all tried talking her out, we even tried dragging her out..."

"Be careful! She scratches worse than a cat!" yelled McKenna from the dining table where her forearm was being bandaged by Tatenashi.

"Cats scratch when you try to put them in the bath, but that cat scratches when you try to get her out… or should I say 'oot'?" remarked Tatenashi with a smirk.

"I'm not laughing…" said McKenna with her eyes narrowed sinisterly.

The teacher stepped inside and then Josephine gently shut the door behind her. "What's she doing in there?"

"Scrubbing. She's used up all our shampoo and body soap. The water was scalding hot, but I managed to adjust the temperature before she burned herself too badly. But in the process, I burned myself a little badly..." she explained and then showed her red arms to her teacher. "I don't think she's going to be satisfied until she's scraped off all of her skin."

Maya gave a quick nod, "I see... Don't worry, I know exactly how to handle this."

"Maria mentioned that you managed to calm her panic attacks while she was on her suspension. So-"

"Say no more," said Maya while raising up a bag, "As soon as you told me what happened I went to the infirmary and got some surgical scrub and burn supplies from the nurse. As I told Miss Cross, when I was a student here my roommate had the same problem, so I had to learn how to live with it."

"What do you need from us?"

Maya quickly took a look around the room. "Not a lot it would seem. Your room is every bit as clean as I would expect. Just tidy up after you've finished your first aid there, and put any garbage out of her sight."

"Understood," she answered while Maya opened the bathroom door and went inside.

"Aren't we just accommodating her fear rather than helping her face and get past it?" asked Tatenashi.

Josephine shook her head as she approached the table, "It's not that simple. Have you ever had a panic attack? It's not a pleasant experience. Her feeling dirty is the same as me being outside in the dark. I can't face it, I can't stand it. I just freeze up, sweat, tremble, cry, completely shut down, and that's it. The only difference is she's compelled to wash and can't stop. Putting her on 'latrine duty' and now making us pick up litter was probably the worst idea Miss Orimura could have had to punish her because it hits directly on her worst fear. She was fine with the thick rubber glove between her and whatever she was touching, not completely fine though because I could see her struggling at times, which, I suspect, is the reason someone decided to throw their rubbish out the window directly on her head. They simply knew exactly how to affect her in the worst possible way."

McKenna narrowed her eyes as she considered those facts. "Alright. Maria is a bitch, and she treats people like shit, but psychological and germ warfare is going too far. I'm considering that an act of war. Now I'm gonna go door to door to find out who did it and retaliate!"

Tatenashi put a hand on McKenna's shoulder to stop her from getting up. "That's not a good idea. You can't just go door to door and accuse everyone with no proof. We need to figure out who did it before confronting them."

Josephine nodded, "I agree. But how would you propose we do that?"

"Well. It'll sound gross, but you can figure out a lot about people from their trash. So we go through what was dumped, and it'll give us clues about the identity of the person or persons responsible. Let's just tidy up in here and then sift through the evidence."

"I'm sorry to say you two are on your own for this... It's properly dark outside."

"Oh right. You just said you were scared of the dark. Damn, two out of three with debilitating phobias. What about you Kenny? What are _you_ afraid of?"

McKenna widened her eyes before quickly shaking her head, "Nothing worth mentioning..."

"Well. I'll tell you I'm shit scared of clowns!"

"Everyone's afraid of clowns," said Josephine while taking out a pot to set on the stove. "Anyone with any sense anyway. They're bloody creepy and I've no idea how they're still a thing."

Tatenashi visibly shivered, "Eeeeshh! I know right?! I was eight when I saw 'It' and what a big mistake that was. _**It**_ scared the shit out of me! But I really don't know why that was though. I saw a lot of scary movies before and since, but that was the only one that had an effect on me," she explained.

"We all have something we're afraid of. My grandmother was afraid of thunderstorms for example. She was a little girl in London during the Second World War, so she came to associate those sounds with the air raids. Whenever a storm hit she would instinctively cower under the table. The same thing with fireworks, actually that was probably even worse for her. So when either happened, I would crawl under the table with her and cuddle up to her until it was over."

Tatenashi smiled sweetly, "That's simultaneously so sweet, and so messed up. You must have loved her a whole lot!"

"Of course! One time the lights went out because we couldn't afford the electricity bill. I was... I think I was around five or six. My grandmother was staying over and I was sitting in bed reading and my night light went out all of a sudden and I was thrown into pitch blackness. I was completely paralyzed. I wet the bed. I couldn't move. I don't remember what happened immediately after, but the next thing I knew my grandmother had carried me out of the house and sat us down on a chair she'd brought out of the building, sat us directly under a street lamp and read to me until I fell asleep. She stayed up that whole night with me, just like that."

McKenna and Tatenashi found themselves instinctively holding hands and wiping their tears at the same time. "Awwww!"

"Was it the Jungle Book she read to you?" asked McKenna.

Josephine widened her eyes at the Canadian, "How'd you guess?"

"The Musketeers seems a bit much for a six-year-old. Che Guevara really doesn't fit that bill. But the Jungle Book is the one you brought with you that seems a little out of place. But you loaned it to Jennifer, I'd think you'd be a bit more attached to it?"

"Books are meant to be read, and while I am attached to that book, I trust Jennifer with it."

"Still, I'm willing to bet if something happened to that book, you'd go berserk."

"I would. Similarly with Maria, I feel it a personal affront that someone would harm her this way. Which is why I'm also on the verge of drawing one of my swords and tearing down doors to find the one who dared to do such a thing. The only reason I don't is that I'm more angry at myself for not knowing how to take away her fear. I knew what to do for my grandmother. But I have no idea what to do for her! I had to pass the proverbial buck to Miss Yamada!"

McKenna stood up and went over to her roommate where she put a hand on her shoulder, "Josephine, be a little kinder to yourself eh? You only just met her. Besides. It's not like she'd go half as far if you were in her place."

"Not true. Remember our first week? She was bringing me dinner here because I couldn't make the walk to the cafeteria in the dark. She's an arrogant, obnoxious, and crass imbecile, but she's not all bad. She's capable of being good."

"That's your opinion. For me, it's just the right thing to do. But at the end of the day, I guess I'd rather have her on my side than the alternative. That being said. We're gonna go find out who did this. I guess if you wanna return the favor to her, maybe take some notes from Miss Yamada? The odds are pretty good this could happen to her again."

"I'll do that. I'm going to make some soup, so if you're late we can just reheat it up on the stove."

"Sounds good. We'll try to get this done quickly."

* * *

Josephine carefully slid open the bathroom door and stepped inside before closing it gently behind her. The first thing she realized was how much steam was in the bathroom, it was like a proper steambath. The next thing she saw was that the toilet lid was closed, and Maya's clothes were neatly folded on top of it. She leaned against the dual sink which was on her right-hand side and listened to what was being said on the inside of the shower. Even though the steam was making very it uncomfortable, she put that discomfort out of her mind to listen. McKenna was right, she should take notes on this.

"Have to stay clean... or I'll get sick again. Have to stay clean... if I get sick I'll be punished again… If I don't stay clean I'll die… I don't want to be punished. I have to stay clean..."

She listened very carefully to Maria's words. It seemed Maya had managed to get something just a bit more useful out of her. All they had managed to extract from the American girl were incoherent ramblings which made Trump sound like Shakespeare. That and a horrific panic-stricken scream which also got McKenna's forearm bloodied up for her troubles.

"It's alright. Everything is alright. You're perfectly safe Maria. You're not going to get sick. You're not going to die. You're not going to be punished. You're perfectly clean now. We just washed it all off with surgical scrub. Any germs on your body are completely dead and gone now. Just take deep breaths, this feeling won't last forever. You just have to allow it to pass… That's it. Deep steady breaths. Just focus on my voice. Let everything else just fade from your mind. You're in a safe place. A clean place. There's no hurry. Just take your time… Breath… Let the calm take over from the fear. There is nothing to be afraid of."

Maya's tone flowed naturally between serenity and stern conviction as she spoke to sooth her student's anxiety. Masterful, was what Josephine would have to call it. It really sounded every bit like the ten thousandth time she's had to calm the fear of someone with this particular phobia. She didn't sound sick of it in the slightest though but simply experienced.

"Shhh. No. Don't think that. There is _nothing_ to be ashamed of. It's perfectly alright. Just let it pass."

Maria feeling shame and humiliation? On any other day, under any other circumstances, that would actually be cause for celebration. If there were ever anyone in need humbling, it would be Maria Cross. But Josephine knew that some things just came with too high a price, and this was certainly an example.

"What was that? Oh, hehe. Yes. I suppose all those harsh chemicals would do that," she heard Maya say playfully, and Josephine found herself struggling not to jump to the wrong conclusions. "Yes, it'll definitely get frizzy. I'll lend you some conditioner tomorrow that will smooth out your hair. Maybe if you can find some time this weekend I can take you to my stylist and we can do something nice with your hair."

"That actually sounds nice…" she heard Maria say softly, finally loud enough to be heard again.

"Do you feel ready to get out now?"

"Yes... I'm so sorry about this..."

"There's nothing to feel sorry about. Miss Williams? I assume that's you out there? Could you hand us the towels?" asked Maya while shutting off the water.

"Yes ma'am."

When she saw Maria emerge and take the towel from her hand, she had to fight not to react to the state in which she saw the diminutive American girl. Her skin was red and blistering from the heat of the water and the abrasiveness of the scrubbing cloth. She'd even scrubbed hard enough to draw blood in places.

At least her nyctophobia would merely leave her paralyzed in fear, but Maria's mysophobia had caused her to self-harm. She could only imagine how painful those injuries would be once she started to felt them. This new information made Josephine worry that much more about her roommate and that much more angry at whoever had triggered her panic attack.

Then an even more worrisome thought came to the forefront of her mind.

What will Maria do in retribution?

Because she knew what Maria had done in response to lesser insults...

* * *

McKenna and Tatenashi used their phone's flashlights to sift through the garbage which had been dumped on Maria's head earlier, searching everything for possible clues to the identity of the culprits.

"So why are you going so far for Maria? You two aren't exactly friends, and Canada and the U.S. on the verge of war aren't they?"

"Maybe. I hope it won't get to that, but that's not a reason to stop doing what's right. But I don't dislike Maria because she's American. It's just because she's a bitch, and just because she's a bitch doesn't mean I'm going to tolerate this crap. I wouldn't let her do it to anyone, and I'm not letting anyone do it to her. Make sense?"

"You're so Canadian…"

"Don't say that like it's an insult!"

"It's not an insult. It's just a fact. You're so Canadian. And honestly, it's what I've really come to like about you. I like that you have a strong sense of justice and that you're so willing to act on it. This world needs more people like you. So never change."

McKenna blinked at the blunette. "Wow… That was… Thanks."

Tatenashi turned and smiled at her. "You're welcome."

"Tatenashi… I'm going to quickly move on from that. There's something I gotta tell you. But… Err… I don't know how to put this… Can I trust you?"

Tatenashi stopped and turned to look her quizzically. "Damn. That's a messed up question. I trust you implicitly. I don't know why that is, but I just do. I realize we haven't known each other all that long, but it feels like I've known you forever. But in reality we haven't really done a whole lot to earn trust between us, all we do is hang out, and all I do is tease you and flirt with you, and come on to you and-"

"I get it! It was a rhetorical question! I actually do trust you."

"That's good. That's great even! So.. uhh. What did you wanna tell me?" asked the bluenette with her arms crossed and a curious look in her eyes.

"I'm scared shitless of what Maria's going to do in retaliation for this. She won't just let it go."

"From what I understand, the worst thing she's done is glue Mayuzumi's shoes to her locker?"

"She also set off the fire sprinklers in the club building. Nobody can prove it, but everyone knows she did it," she said and then lowered her voice considerably, "There's also…"

"Also what?" asked Tatenashi while stepping closer.

McKenna lowered her voice even further, "I think she blew up her house and tried to murder her parents."

Tatenashi's face took on a grave expression. "Alright… I don't think you'd make a statement like that without proof. So what've you got?"

"An old news article I found from two years ago. Maria mentioned that was around the time when she first got into IS pre-training. Anyway. The article said that a house in her hometown blew up because of possible arson and that police for looking for the daughter to question her about it. At the same time, I found a bunch of social media posts from a group of people in the school Maria went to. They made a lot of posts bullying her back then… Anyway, they were talking about how Maria had just vanished and nobody had seen her and that police were looking for her in connection with the explosion. It all fit."

"I see. Go on."

"There's not much else. I've tried getting in touch with one person whom the bullies mentioned was Maria's girlfriend at the time. But she wouldn't talk to me. I showed her a picture of Maria to prove that I knew her, but she refused to believe that it was actually Maria."

"Why's that? Think she might be a different Maria?"

"No… She's the same girl. Check this out," McKenna then reached into her pocket to get out her phone and then started going through her pictures. "Here, take a look. This was Maria from two years ago."

Tatenashi peeked down at the phone and had to bite her lip. "Pfft… Hehehe. Yeah. That's Maria alright. Maria and about a bajillion twinkies. How was she ever so fat?!"

"She was apparently a regular customer at the local McDonald's. So that probably had a lot to do with it."

"Junk food and bullies. Sounds like a case of comfort eating. Combine that with a religious family and her own anti-religious views… I guess that's a theory? It would explain a bit about why she went off on that fat ass American at the restaurant. Somewhere along the way she turned her anger outwards instead of inwards."

"Anger turned inwards is depression. Anger turned sideways is Maria."

"Hehehe. Sounds right… Hey. Just a moment, could you show me that picture again?"

McKenna opened up the photo again as requested and showed it to Tatenashi who took the phone and zoomed in on something. "That's interesting..."

"What is?" asked the brunette while stepping closer to see what she was looking at. She had the image zoomed in on Maria's eyes.

"Does Maria wear colored contacts?"

"No. She doesn't…"

"Then how does someone's eye color change?"

"I have no fucking idea… That's just freaky. I can't believe I didn't notice that."

"Make a note and look into it. It could give you more clues."

"Right. Mental note taken."

"You must really care about her to do this much digging into her past… Ever bothered looking into mine?" she asked while handing back the phone.

"No. I haven't got a reason to cyber stalk you."

Tatenashi pouted.

"What? Don't tell me you actually want to be stalked?!"

"I stalked you online…"

"I realized that when you started talking about my family history. Can we just move on now? This is gross. How do you plan to figure out who this was based on the garbage?!"

"Because it narrows down the number of suspects. There are one hundred and twenty students in this dorm building. We can obviously subtract ourselves, so that leaves us with one hundred and sixteen suspects. Since you didn't see who did it, or which floor it even came from, all we have to go on, is what was dumped," explained Tatenashi. "We can obviously also eliminate a few rooms based on the laws of physics. Nobody on the other side of the building could have done it since it happened on this side. Which means it had to come from one of these dorms on this side."

"Yeah. Thank you Captain Obvious. But how does their garbage tell you who they are?!"

"You're smart, but you're not very bright. I guess we could say you're a matte finish."

McKenna growled, "Tatenashi..."

"Our suspect is Japanese."

"What makes you say that?"

"Flavored Kit Kats. These aren't popular with foreigners. At least, I have yet to meet the gaijin who eats Wasabi Flavored Kit Kat in their first few weeks in Japan. She also doesn't cook, there's a lot of instant ramen here."

"There are six Japanese in our class. So that does actually narrow it down by a lot."

"So what did you three even do to end up picking up trash back here?"

"I smuggled a bottle of Jack Daniel's into the dorms to cook chili."

"How did Miss Orimura find it?"

"She ate some of my chili…"

"And you just admitted it?"

"She's not a moron. When it comes to Miss Orimura, it's best to be honest. Saves you some pain."

Tatenashi shook her head, "I believe it. So why would you even bother smuggling a bottle into school? You don't strike me as the type to go around breaking the rules."

McKenna shrugged, "You're probably right. I just wanted to cook my favorite food for Josie and Maria... I never in a million years imagined Miss Orimura would just pop in, sit down, and eat with us for no reason. If she didn't try my chili, she never would have known."

"I think the whole reason she stopped in was because she already knew. Don't underestimate her."

"But how could she have known?"

"I don't expect she'll ever be revealing her methods to us. Maybe from now on, don't try smuggling? It would suck if you got expelled. I still haven't even gotten a taste of that Canadian Bacon!"

McKenna rolled her eyes, "Where can we get a list of who's in which room? We have 6 people to interrogate."

"I'll show you. Let me just ask you something else about Maria."

"What do you wanna know?"

"If she was in IS pre-training at around the same time as the fire. How did nobody find her?"

"Huh?"

"You mentioned the police were looking for her, and that people were asking about her on social media. How did nobody find her? Wouldn't her parents have had to approve of her going off into training? Wouldn't she have bragged about it to her friends and classmates? Especially her bullies? There are too many holes in this story."

"That's… That's a good point."

"You'll find more answers if you follow her trail through the IS program. Maybe not all the answers, but it'll be a start. Remember what Zhāng said about Contenders being a source of revenue for IS research and development. More of a subsidy really but they probably had Maria doing something in public, which means that in order to facilitate that, they had to make her legal problems go away. Wouldn't be the first time a government swept dirt aside to push forward a Representative Candidate. Shouldn't be that hard to find if you know what you're looking for. I mean, it's not like they just stashed Maria away in some mountain and sent her off on missions to other planets every week."

"I fucking LOVE Stargate! Hahaha!"

* * *

McKenna looked at her phone, specifically the notes she made about which rooms to check. "Let's start with Mayuzumi. I don't think it was her, but, I wanna be able to prove it wasn't her in case Maria thinks it was her."

"Reasonable. Those two have enough problems. I wish we could all just get along. But alas. Conflict keeps things interesting."

"Maybe for you…"

"Hey. Imagine my life story gets turned into a book or even an anime! Would you want your character to be considered the boring one? Like the rest of Canada?"

"Fuck you!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Can we just get this done?"

Tatenashi's answer was to give the door a few hard knocks. " **Hey! Kaoruko! Open the door!"**

McKenna palmed her face, "If this is how you treat your friends, I almost feel sorry for what's gonna happen to the poor bitch when we find her…"

The door opened with an exhausted and disheveled looking Mayuzumi gazing angrily at them with sleepy eyes. She had her hair down and wore nothing but a bathrobe.

Tatenashi smirked devilishly at the girl in the doorway, "Damn Kaoruko, you should let your hair down more often. You look gorgeous!"

Mayuzumi stared blankly at the bluenette, "What do you want Sarashiki? I had literally just got into bed."

"Any room in that bed for us?"

McKenna smacked Tatenashi upside the head who in turn started rubbing the newly sore spot while giving the Canadian the sad puppy noise and eyes.

"Sorry. There's no excuse for her. We just came to ask you if we could have a look at your garbage."

"My garbage? Are you serious?"

Tatenashi looked back up at Mayuzumi and nodded, "Yeah. Someone threw their trash out the window and it all landed on Maria. We just want to prove it wasn't you so we can move on and find the one who really did it."

"It wasn't you. Right?" asked McKenna. "Since, you know, the two of us, we trust you, consider you a friend, and we know you'd never exploit information you got in our confidence to use against Maria. Right? You're above that."

"And if I'm not?"

"Kaoruko! Just tell them what happened!" yelled her roommate from inside.

"I told you to keep your mouth shut!" she yelled back into the room.

Both McKenna and Tatenashi narrowed their eyes at Mayuzumi before she quickly slammed the door in their faces.

"Damn…" muttered McKenna and Tatenashi at the same time.

The two looked at each other to see if either had any idea of what they should do next.

"Maria can't find out about this..." mumbled McKenna.

"I agree. But. We can't just leave this unpunished either?"

"We won't…" grumbled McKenna, "Ahh fuck!" she yelled before punching the door with a cringe-inducing wood cracking sound.

Tatenashi looked on with a sad expression before going up to her, where she gently took her hand off the door and examined the damage and injury. She caved in the door slightly and got her fist littered with splinters.

"Come to my room. I'll clean this up for you."

"Sorry… Made you do first aid on me twice in one night..."

"Nothing to be sorry to me about. I feel betrayed too."

* * *

Josephine looked over at Maria's bed to confirm she was still sleeping soundly. McKenna still hadn't returned but she wasn't worried because she knew who she was with. Tatenashi was as mischievous as a cat, but at least she seemed reliable. Then her phone buzzed and she turned over to her nightstand to pick it up and have a look at the message she got.

" _Are you sleeping yet?"_ asked Aisha.

" _Non,"_ she texted back.

" _How's your roommate?"_

" _Finally asleep. Our teacher left a little while ago."_

" _So many problems there. I wish I could be there to help you."_

" _Absolutely not. I think you have enough problems without getting mixed up in mine."_

" _If I were in your school, I'd probably be happier."_

Josephine sighed and shook her head while typing her next response, " _The grass is always greener on the other side. I for one can't help but envy the normality of your life."_

 _"Oui. Completely normal for a fifteen-year-old girl to have to raise her little brother because her parents aren't interested. Also completely normal to be dragged across the world and thrown into a foreign school in a foreign language and be told you have to do well 'or else'."_

" _That's not what I meant. But I wish I could help you with that as well…"_

" _See how that works? It's normal to care about your friends and want to take away their burdens."_

" _Oui. You're right. Thank you."_

" _If I can't come there to help you. Tell me what's wrong and maybe I can advise you?"_

" _It's a long story. I wouldn't even know where to start. It's all politics between those of us who are Representative Contenders, and the others who are normal students. I feel like they want to get rid of us."_

" _Politics is your passion. Negotiate treaties, make allies. How can you be the Prime Minister if this is making you lose sleep?"_

" _MDR! So true! Maybe I am overthinking this whole thing and making it more complicated than it is. But at the same time, I worry because if they were willing to use Maria's sexuality against her, and even exploit her worst fear like this, where would they draw the line?"_

 _"I don't know my friend. But, be careful. In the Emirates, the other girls could be very cruel to each other. I don't think it's any different for you there. So try to resolve the problems, but at the same time, watch your back. I'm afraid for what they might do to you if they could do that to Maria. Maybe she's not a nice person, but even bad people deserve their dignity. Non?"_

 _"Oui. They do indeed. I'm going to try and sleep now. Bonne nuit mon amie."_

" _Bonne nuit."_

Josephine leaned down to pick up the power chord for her phone and plugged it in. But as she was about to set the phone down on the nightstand, her side lamp started to flicker.

Her heart jumped up into her throat as she froze in terror at the prospect of being left in the dark. But the light stopped flickering and stayed on. Rather than try and touch it to diagnose it, she simply pulled up her covers to her chin and held them tightly, as if the blanket would protect her from the darkness around the lamp.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Happy new year to everyone! We wish you all a prosperous 2019!

Over the holidays, we made a TV Tropes page for this story. Just search for "Infinite Stratos: Our Darkest Days" on TV Tropes to find it.

The page also includes images made by Miriya for all the characters who have been introduced so far. More will be added over time. Additionally, all the I.S. units used by the main cast have images linked in their descriptions. ( **Miriya's note:** Don't expect too much from them. I'm not an artist, just a Photoshopper. ^^)

Beware of some spoilers for the coming chapters in the tropes. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

" **Stand By Me"**

It was what would have been, on any other night, a perfectly pleasant evening. A cloudless sky, innumerable stars visible to the naked eye and even more appearing as her eyes adjusted to the low light. On any other night, she would have come out just to look at the scenery. It was beautiful here. Beautiful beyond even her sesquipedalian vocabulary's ability to describe. The city lights shimmered in the distance across the bay, along with smaller moving lights of ships and yachts coming and going from the harbors. The lights of the city, boats, and even the stars and moon all reflected in the inky blackness of the surrounding bay.

Josephine sighed heavily while staring at her phone. Even when surrounded by the true depth of the beauty of the world, she couldn't take her mind out of the storm it was swirling in. Even a rare well lit night such as this which allowed her to be outside couldn't take away the sting of what had been done to her. So much going through her mind that she didn't even know where to begin the conversation she was about to have. But getting it all straight in her mind was a chore unto itself, and she didn't have the time. So instead, she simply pushed the call button and brought the phone up to her ear.

While it rang, she put her free hand onto the balcony railing, and as her sleeve lifted up, she saw her wrist, for the first time, without her heirloom timepiece and the standby mode of her Infinite Stratos attached to it.

" _Josephine! How are you dear?"_

"Hello, mother…"

" _Oh my God, you sound terrible, did something happen?"_

"A lot's happened… I'm not even sure where to begin. I've tried to sort it in my head before making this call, but that wasn't going anywhere. I suppose I just needed to hear your voices."

" _What's wrong?"_ she heard her father ask, now knowing that her parents were indeed sharing the phone between them.

Josephine took a very deep breath, and as she released it, whatever hold she had on her emotions fell apart along with the sobs and tears that spilled out of her.

"I completely buggered it all!" she exclaimed in a suddenly very Yorkshire accent. "Everything's gone completely tits up!"

" _Josephine love, calm down. Take a deep breath. Then start at the beginning and tell us everything,"_ she heard her mother say.

* * *

 **Earlier that day**

"Maria. Sit down here," said Josephine in an authoritative tone.

She looked up at Josephine who was holding a hairbrush and then ran a hand through the puffy mess of hair attached to her head.

"I don't know, this semi-afro might start a whole new trend."

"Don't you think people hate you enough without looking like a total slob?" muttered McKenna while tying up her ponytail.

"Maria… Sit!" commanded Josephine.

"Damn it, Josie! This is embarrassing! I can brush my own damn hair!"

"Then why didn't you?"

"I don't own a hairbrush!"

"I'll add that to the list of things we need to remedy come this weekend. No wonder your hair is always an unruly mess on the best of days! Now sit down and let me brush you!"

Maria sat down in the chair in front of Josephine with a loud and annoyed huff. "Yes mummy dearest," said Maria in imitation of Josephine's posh accent.

"How very amusing…" muttered Josephine as she took a handful of jet black hair and started running her brush through it. It was a struggle though because it kept getting stuck in the mess. "Naturally your hair must be as stubborn as you are."

"Lemmie see if I have an extra scrunchie or something," said McKenna while digging through one of her bags. "I'm not confident you can tame that mess with just a brush… Oh, come on! I know I brought a whole bunch when I left home! Where the hell did I put 'em?"

"You don't have a brush. You have no makeup whatsoever. No perfumes… Dare I ask if you're even wearing any deodorant?"

"Of course I am! I'm not Tazzy!"

"Really? I only saw mine and McKenna's on the shelf?"

"I'm using Kenny's."

" **Wh… Wha… WHAT?!"** exclaimed the Canadian. " **WHY MINE?!"**

"Because you use spray on, and Josie uses stick. I'll give you three guesses as to why I chose yours."

"You bitch! You could have asked me!"

"Would you have said no?"

"Of course not! You're bad enough without B.O.!"

"Owww! Josie!" yelled Maria. "That hurts!"

"Sit up straight and stop moving your head!" commanded an imperious Josephine while putting one hand on top of the American's head to position it where she wanted it.

"Want me to warm up my straightening iron?" asked McKenna.

Josephine shook her head. "Not enough time. We'll miss breakfast."

"Such as it is…" muttered Maria.

* * *

They hadn't even made it out the front door of the dorm building when Maria received the first comment on her hair.

"How can you show your face outside with a hairy animal on your head? Brush it or scrunch it!" exclaimed one of their schoolmates. A German girl with long brown hair named Mia Fischer. One of Arad's seemingly close friends in the class.

Josephine knew it would be worth her while to start keeping track of the who's who of the class. Especially for when the time came for retribution.

Rather than show any sign of weakness, she inwardly cringed hard at the remark. It was as if she were the one on the receiving end of the insult. She had personally spent the better part of the morning fighting a war to straighten out Maria's hair. But even she had to eventually relent and admit that it was a lost cause.

"I try not to anger the beast. You should do the same! Bitch!" yelled Maria in while balling up her fists.

Before she could strike, Josephine and McKenna grabbed her by the arms and pulled her away. Class would be starting soon and being late was simply not an option. They were all in enough trouble as it stood.

She knew that as the day went on, she would have to keep one eye on Maria, and another on Daniella. Since Maria was choosing to blame for recent happenings, it was only a matter of time before something happened between them. All throughout class, she would have to pay attention to the teachers, and she would have to stay alert and ready to instantly react to any situation lest all hell break loose.

She could already feel a migraine building up behind her right eye. Either that or her monthly was set to begin. Or perhaps the universe itself had decided that today was a good day to mess with her and decided that both should be the cause.

* * *

When they arrived in class, the first thing they heard was that Miss Orimura would be out for the morning on business. Which presented a whole new level of problems Josephine knew she had to look out for. Without Chifuyu Orimura around to inspire fear, the students would push the boundaries.

Maya knew this as well as she took a very deep breath while she approached the podium. Though she'd already given quite a few lectures to the students, this was her first time flying solo in the classroom. Her heart was beating in her throat as she looked around at the stern faces of her students. It didn't look at all as if they took her seriously.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. Williams and Tremblay both had a great deal of respect for her. And Cross... well, she was another story. She knew how the little raven-haired American felt about her. Subtlety wasn't in the vocabulary of Maria Cross. First, she copied and adapted all her moves for her own use, and now she spends every class gazing at her. Wistfully, adoringly, even lustfully. It was a different expression every time she looked, and it was very worrying that she could now tell which was which.

While Maya Yamada would never in a million years admit it openly, she did find it flattering. But at the same time, it was also extremely uncomfortable. It was an interesting mix of emotions, to say the least.

But this morning, Maria had found something interesting to stare at outside the window. The tell-tale blush on her cheeks told her that she wasn't doing it because she was bored, but because she was in desperate need of a distraction.

Maya was under no delusions that it probably had everything to do with the fact that the young American had now fully regained her mental faculties. And with those faculties came the recollections of time they had spent in the shower together. Under any other circumstances, she knew how highly inappropriate her actions would have been. But even under the given extraordinary circumstances, her actions were questionable at best.

Maya could almost imagine herself trying to explain to the Academy board why she was naked in the shower with a first-year student, washing her body for her… The judgemental faces she imagined on Chifuyu Orimura and the Academy board of directors and headmistress threatened to make her nauseous.

Now she understood even better why Maria was so intensely focused on that fluffy white cloud in the sky. The thought made her uncomfortable enough, she couldn't imagine how much worse it might have been for Maria, being gay, and actually having a crush on her teacher...

It was an awkward situation she'd have to resolve with her student in the near future. No matter what she'd told herself going into that situation, it just wasn't the same as helping her roommate through her panic attacks. No matter how much she tried to convince herself it was, it just wasn't.

All she could do for now was get on with class and sort everything else out in its own time.

Activating the podium, however, lead to the first real 'incident' of the day...

Maya turned on the holographic projector for a diagram to go with her intended lecture and began speaking immediately. For the sake of her own sanity, she had to focus her mind exclusively on the task at hand.

"So, to begin today's class, I'd like to go over some of the basic design principles of the Infinite Stratos and how it has evolved over time to what it is today," said the bespectacled teacher in an awkward yet forceful tone of voice which was more like an imitation of Chifuyu's and simply sounded completely unnatural on her.

Josephine's eyes widened at what she saw while the rest of the class started to quietly snicker.

Josephine felt that migraine she was developing earlier intensify. She closed her right eye and rubbed her eyebrow as if it would sooth the throbbing pain which felt as if Maria were using her eyeball as a kick drum.

" _Why oh why did Miss Orimura have to be out today of all days?"_ she thought to herself.

Instead of a diagram of an I.S. component, there was a picture of Josephine participating in a re-enactment with her fellow Historical European Martial Arts students in England, and Maya was going on about whatever it was she thought everyone was looking at.

"The first I.S. frames were of a bulky design which resembled space suits more than the exoskeletons we know today. This was because they were intended for use in outer space, which necessitated a 'closed design' compared to the more 'open designs' we're all familiar with today."

Maya smiled when she heard laughing and amused snickering coming from her students. It went a long way to relieving her anxiety about conducting her first solo lesson. "Modern I.S. frames can make the older units seem sort of medieval to us today, wouldn't you say?"

The girls laughed even harder until they were all in hysterics.

In the photo, Josephine was wearing a full set of plate armor and wielding a European Longsword in a dramatic pose for the event photographer. She had her hair tied up neatly in a bun with a dark green ribbon so she could wear a helmet, which she now dearly wished she had been wearing for every photograph.

The English girl had enough and put her hand up. "Excuse me, Miss Yamada. Could you perhaps take a quick gander to your right and rectify that?"

"Huh? Wha- Oh no. What's this?"

Whatever boost to her ego had been granted to her from the feeling that the students were enjoying her lecture was now all gone. In fact, her entire ego felt completely deflated.

The class erupted into laughter at the English girl. But for whatever it was worth, both Maria and McKenna turned back to look at her and gave her a smile and thumbs up respectively.

"You look totally badass in that armor Josie!" declared Maria.

"I have to agree, Miss Williams. You do look very heroic! But in all seriousness now. Which of you did this?" asked Maya while looking around.

The laughter in the room suddenly felt like it was directed at Maya for even asking. Josephine had to wonder if she really expected anyone to confess.

* * *

Though the earlier scene bothered her, it wasn't nearly as bad as it perhaps could have been. Thankfully Josephine had thus far managed live her life without having any truly compromising photos of herself make it onto the internet, which in this day and age was no minor miracle.

Her hypervigilance towards Maria eventually paid off when math class was about to begin.

The students had all gathered into their respective cliques during the short recess, and on the way back, one unfortunate girl name Hina Yamamoto, the one with the breasts Maria apparently enjoyed too much, and no appreciation for the danger she'd placed herself in, had the audacity to throw what was left of her candy bar onto Maria's desk.

What happened next, happened so fast that anyone who blinked, missed it. By the time the article of trash in question had landed on her desk, the girl was face first on the floor, an arm locked behind her back, just at the breaking point.

The poor girl let out an ear-shattering scream of agony.

Daniella, who was seated beside Maria, jumped in to try and peel the American off her classmate. Maria did let the other girl go, but only so she could strike at Daniella, knocking her into a desk. Josephine had by now gotten up and threw her arms around Maria to pull her away just before she could get into it properly and do actual damage. Meanwhile other classmates came in to hold Daniella back.

 **"Y'all wanna start shit! I'll take all you bitches on!"** screamed Maria at the top of her lungs.

" **Shar moota! Let me go! I'll fuck her up!"** yelled Daniella at the top of hers.

Meanwhile, McKenna wandered over towards Mayuzumi's desk where she crossed her arms under her breasts and stared down at the bespectacled girl with a hard look in her amber eyes.

"So… How're you doing today? Are you feeling proud of yourself?"

Mayuzumi looked up, met the Canadian's eyes, and then quickly looked down at her desk again with both hands on the sides of her head, covering her ears. As if that would keep her from hearing the consequences of her actions.

"Tremblay? Quelle est cette marde?" she heard her math teacher ask from directly behind her.

McKenna turned around to see the teacher standing behind her. "Ahh. Bon matin Madam Edwards. Comment allez-vous?"

"Pas grand-chose. Ça va ts u bein? Ça trippe tsu?"

Mayuzumi looked up at the two Canadians with a curious eye while they spoke until finally Miss Edwards gestured towards the rest of the class and said something which made McKenna seem far too happy for her liking.

That was when she materialized the right arm of her Infinite Stratos. She then put two fingers in her mouth and gave everyone a _**very**_ loud whistle just before she yelled her only warning she would give at the top of her lungs. " **Everyone cut that shit oot before I blast you with my** _**BASS CANNON!**_ "

But, unfortunately for everyone, she was largely ignored.

* * *

Tatenashi was doing her best to stay focused on her work while ignoring the staring coming from the Chinese girl sitting in the front row when all of a sudden her vision became blurred and a pressure built up inside her head.

It wasn't a moment later when everyone in the room started feeling the same effects and another moment after that everyone was holding their heads and screaming in agony!

" **Nantekotta?!"** screamed Tatenashi as she fell out of her chair and onto the floor with her head feeling like it was about to explode.

" **Wǒ cāo! Gǎo shénme fēijī?!"** exclaimed Meiying as she too fell out of her chair along with several other girls who were all screaming and cursing in their own languages.

* * *

Josephine walked with Maria and McKenna towards the cafeteria in silence until the Canadian decided to break the ice with her friends.

"Sorry about that earlier… Miss Edwards told me to do it."

" **What?"** yelled Maria. " **I can't hear you!"**

Josephine looked over at the little American and moved her hair away from her ear while leaning in closer to her, " **What did you say Maria?"**

" **Josie?! I can't hear you either!"**

McKenna palmed her face. "Don't exaggerate… I had it on the lowest setting."

"Your fucking bass cannon should be reclassified as a mother fucking torture device!" exclaimed Maria.

"Indeed… That was thoroughly unpleasant!" added Josephine.

* * *

The three sat down at their usual table for lunch, but this time with only Tatenashi and Jennifer joining them. They all sat around the circular table in the bench seats and chairs, leaving the one extra chair unfilled which would have been Mayuzumi's seat.

"Itadakimasu," said a grumpy Tatenashi before taking up her chopsticks.

"I've heard you say that before. What does it mean?" asked Josephine.

"It's an expression of gratitude for the food and everyone who worked to make it possible."

"I rather like that, how do you say it? Ita-daki-ma-su?"

"Exactly right," replied the blunette.

"Now if only there were anything on these trays to actually be grateful for," muttered Maria while moving some of her food around in her plate.

"So about what happened in your class today..." started Tatenashi before anyone could get into the American's remark.

"There were people in _my_ class who got migraines…" muttered Jennifer. "How stupidly powerful is that sonic weapon?"

"Powerful enough that everyone in my class was on the floor…" replied Tatenashi.

"I'm sorry… We needed some riot control in our class and the teacher asked me to use it…"

Maria nodded, "Moral of the story was don't ever get hit by Kenny's 'Hand Sonic' thing."

Josephine glared incredulously at Maria. "No. The moral of the story was don't resort to violence!"

"If that bitch didn't want to lose her arm, then she should have kept her filthy germ infested candy bar out of my face! Cause and effect, Josie!"

"I don't suppose it ever even entered into your mind that you had it coming?" asked Jennifer.

"It only happened because they stopped being afraid of me. I need to correct that."

"No Maria, what you need to do is-" Josephine was cut off when used napkins, chopsticks, plastic cutlery, crushed cans, and bits of half eaten food started falling out of the sky and landed on their table, on their persons, and in their food.

As soon as she realized what had just happened, Josephine grabbed onto Maria who was just about to climb up over the divide between their table and assault the students who dumped on them.

She pulled Maria away with her after McKenna shoved the table out of the way to let them get out more quickly. Tatenashi and Jennifer got up from their own seats, not stopping to question what was going on they just moved aside.

A moment later Tatenashi's head turned to look behind her where she spotted a group of girls laughing hysterically. They laughed until they suddenly stopped and looked afraid.

The blunette turned her head again and spotted Chifuyu Orimura staring them down. "Arad, Kuznetsova, Yamamoto, and Fischer… You're all on KP duty. Report to the head of the kitchen staff. Now!"

* * *

"If I had known this, I would have brought my bathroom garbage bag instead of my axe to fight her…" muttered Jennifer with an indignant tone, her arms crossed as she stared down at Josephine and Maria.

They were all standing outside the cafeteria building, which was a common area near the three main class buildings.

Jennifer observed that Maria had, for want of a better term, completely lost her marbles. She was hyperventilating, sweating profusely, visibly shaking, and then she suddenly heaved over and threw up all over the floor.

"That's disgusting…" she muttered. While looking away, lest she too vomit up whatever little bit she had of whatever passed for food in the school cafeteria.

Josephine was trying her best to imitate what she saw Maya doing to calm her down. Telling Maria to breathe, to slow down, to reassure her that it would pass if she let it. But it seemed to have the opposite effect which made her feel like she was about to start to panic as well.

So focused on Maria was she, that she didn't even realize her friends had all stepped away. She didn't know what was going on until she herself was shoved aside. She snapped and held out her right hand, prepared to deploy the arm of the Falkirk's Fury and strike at whoever dared to get between her and her friend. That was when she saw that it was Chifuyu Orimura and instantly canceled her attack by spamming her imaginary escape key.

Chifuyu grabbed onto Maria's arm with one hand, and with the other, she slapped the little American across the face. "Pull yourself together!" she yelled at the ravenette.

Josephine and McKenna were both instantly at Maria's side with angry looks at their teacher.

Chifuyu ignored them and focused on Maria instead.

"What in god's name are you doing?!" yelled Josephine.

"You just really hit her!" yelled McKenna.

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" she yelled back before staring back at Maria.

Maria responded by snapping her red eyes on Chifuyu's browns.

Once she was satisfied that she had her attention, Chifuyu leaned down until their eyes were level with each other and then yelled very loudly into her face, "Name and rank soldier!"

Maria's eyes seemed to go blank after a brief moment of lucidity and then Chifuyu yelled again.

"Name and rank! Now!"

Her red eyes seemed to regain some life, "...Maria Cross. Acting Second Lieutenant. United States Air Force," she answer in a robotic monotone.

"Current assignment?"

"Test Pilot for the Black Gospel. A prototype third generation Infinite Stratos which I renamed the Meteor."

"She renamed her I.S.? That explains the incomplete data… Sneaky American fuckers." mumbled Jennifer.

"What's today's date?!" asked Chifuyu.

"April seventeenth," answered Maria in the same robotic monotone.

"What day is it?"

"Wednesday."

"When's your birthday?"

"December eighth."

"Do you know where you are?"

"The I.S. Academy. Outside the cafeteria building."

Chifuyu nodded and then took a hold of Maria's arm by the wrist and checked her pulse while looking at her wristwatch. "You just had a panic attack. Your heart rate is very high. You're excused from classes for the rest of the day. Williams, you too. Get her back to your room and keep an eye on her."

"Yes ma'am…" muttered Josephine. While it was undoubtedly effective, she couldn't condone the method. She put an arm around Maria's shoulders and guided her towards the dorm building.

"Was that really necessary?" asked McKenna.

"She knows what's she's doing," said Jennifer in Chifuyu's defense.

"Yes it was, and yes I do. In case you didn't know, the reason you Representative Contenders usually receive military training from your countries is exactly for this reason. Conditioning."

"Were _you_ ever in the military ma'am?" asked McKenna with no small hint of contempt.

"Mind your tone, Tremblay. The answer is no. But I've spent enough time around it to know my business. Which happens to, unfortunately, be dealing with first world child soldiers day in and day out... Now I've got other things to do. See you in class."

* * *

McKenna and Tatenashi walked together through the hall of the first year class building until they reached the roof.

"I'm getting so sick of this shit… It's one thing after another. I want my boring life back!" exclaimed the Canadian.

"You don't mean that. We already established you're enjoying the weirdness."

"No. I'm not! Well, at least not _this_ kind of weirdness! I guess Maria tried to remake herself to avoid getting bullied this time around, but it's totally backfired on her. Except I don't think she's gonna go eat herself into oblivion. If Josie and I can't keep her on a tight leash, she's gonna go wreck their shit!"

Both girls approached the railing and Tatenashi looked up at the taller ponytailed girl and smiled brightly. "You're so sexy when you're angry. It _really_ turns me on!"

"Do we need to have another conversation about how I'm both straight and in a serious relationship?"

"Could you two maybe take it somewhere else? Not that I object to same-sex couples, but it makes me uncomfortable when people, _any_ people, flirt in front of me."

McKenna and Tatenashi turned their heads to their right where they spotted Meiying sitting down against the railing with a box of food in her hands.

"Sorry. I got a little caught up in my venting and didn't realize you were there…" said McKenna before moving down to take a seat beside her. "So how're you doing?"

"I wasn't aware that we were on friendly enough terms for you to sit beside me uninvited."

Tatenashi then went and sat down on her other side.

"And I know for certain that you and I are _far_ from being on such terms."

"Well, I don't know any other way to make friends besides sitting down together and talking," replied McKenna.

"What makes you think I want- Hmm? What happened to your hair? And your uniforms are stained," asked Meiying while glancing to both girls.

"Bullies in the cafeteria. One member of our group is afraid of germs, so they started throwing trash at us to trigger her into doing something stupid. It almost worked."

"Yǐ qiáng líng ruò…"

"What does that mean?" asked McKenna and Tatenashi.

"To use power to approach the weak… No, wait, that doesn't make sens... I don't know what the better translation would be off hand, but it implies that only bad people use their strength against the weak."

"That's true. But Maria isn't weak. She has a weakness, but she isn't weak," replied McKenna.

"Everyone has weaknesses, and to prey upon them is dishonorable. If you want to be a bully, kick them when they are down, but if you want to be a champion, fight them at their best."

Tatenashi nodded firmly, "Good advice. So. What are you eating? It looks good!"

Meiying looked down at her vegetable fried rice and spring rolls. "It's exactly what it looks like. I refuse to believe you've never eaten Chinese food in your life."

"Of course I have. I'm just trying to make conversation."

"Why do you think I want to talk to you?" asked the Chinese girl.

"Because you stare at me all day. Either you like me, or you hate me. If you like me, I should talk to you. If you hate me, then I should talk to you."

"You know what I'd want to talk about, and I know what your answer will be. So what's the point?"

McKenna sighed heavily, "Never mind her. So do you always eat up here by yourself? I've never seen you in the cafeteria before."

"I don't eat there for the same reason I'm not eating now. Because of nerve damage, I can't keep my mouth closed properly while I'm eating and nobody will want to see that. It becomes even worse when I bite the inside of my mouth hard enough to draw blood, which I do from time to time."

That was when McKenna spotted the plastic bag full of used up napkins between her and the green haired girl. "So what? It's not your fault."

"You obviously don't know much about Asian cultures. Between my face and the food and blood that would leak out the side I can't close properly while chewing, it will not end well."

"That's messed up…" muttered McKenna.

"It's the way it is. There's no help for it. So. will you two please leave me alone so I can eat in peace?"

"Yeah… Sure," said Tatenashi as she got up. "Come on Kenny. We should let her eat."

"Right… Have a good day Meiying."

"Zhāng, please. Let's not get too familiar here. Tremblay. Sarashiki. Zài jiàn."

"As you wish. Miss Chang."

"Zhāng…"

"Sorry. I'm bad enough with names in my own country," replied McKenna.

"When you said my first name, you separate the syllables too much and it means something else entirely."

"So, how do I say it right?"

"Zhāng Měiyīng."

"Chang Mei-ying?"

Tatenashi had a big laugh.

The Chinese girl shook her head, "Listen to how good my English is. And you can't even say my name." She then sighed, "Just call me whatever you want. But do it somewhere else please. I'm very hungry and eating is a slow process for me."

"Sure… Sorry to bother you."

"Your intentions were good. But it takes more than good intentions," answered the Chinese girl.

"Oh hey. Before we leave. Quick question for you. Are you interested in martial arts at all?" asked Tatenashi.

Meiying tilted her head at the Japanese girl. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm looking for members for the Judo club. They could shut it down unless we get enough members to justify the funding for it."

"I don't even want to be in the same classroom as you. But you're inviting me to be in the same club as you?"

"Yeah. I guess that was a stupid question. But come on! Judo is a lot of fun!"

"I'm afraid I'm not interested in Judo. I train in Wushu and Jeet Kune Do."

"Judo is a very effective art you know!"

"How many people do you see on TV using Judo?"

"None that I can think of, but what's that got to do with anything? TV and real life are totally different!"

Meiying sighed, "I told you I could have been an actress. I wanted to be in Wushu movies. Since I was very little."

"What's Wushu?" asked McKenna.

"Kung-Fu and stuff," answered Tatenashi.

"Kung-Fu means 'great skill' and Wushu means martial art. Anyone can have Kung-Fu. A tailor, a blacksmith, a chef, even a taxi driver."

"So the question is, do _you_ have Kung-Fu?"

"At the risk of sounding arrogant, yes. I have Kung-Fu! I watched all the movies growing up, I know all the actors, all the styles, and I train every day."

"So where do you train here?"

"By myself, in my own time. I have no one to spar with yet."

"So why not join the club and spar with real people? You'll learn new stuff."

"You just said it was a Judo club, not an MMA club. It would ruin the integrity and harmony of your dojo if you start training with people from different styles."

"Hmm… You know. I should probably talk to the club president about that. An MMA club isn't a bad idea. The only way to get more members would be to broaden the recruitment pool and open up to different styles."

"That's your business. Now can I please eat?" said Meiying before the bells chimed that it was time to return to class. "Nǐ zài gēn wǒ kāiwánxiào ma?!"

"What's that mean?" asked McKenna.

"Are you being serious! You just wasted my entire lunch break!" she exclaimed while getting up and packing away her food.

"Sorry… But if it's any consolation, we didn't get to eat either."

"It isn't… I need to take in a lot of calories every day for my exercise routines and now I'm going to be very hungry for the rest of the day! Nǐ tài hǎo la!"

"Dare I ask what does that-"

Meiying walked past and McKenna promptly closed her mouth after getting a good look at the sour expression on the good half of her face. Even pacifists have their limits. It would probably be better not to provoke her.

* * *

Josephine left her stained uniform in a basket by the front door before heading into the bathroom to shower and wash the gunk out. As she turned on the shower, she felt the disgusting traces of food grease and other things she didn't want to think about slip off her body. The thought of touching any of it with her fingers to clean it out filled her with even more disgust, but it had to be done. As she shampooed her long sandy blonde hair, she wondered if this was how Maria felt all the time.

But then she realized that she knew it was so much worse than that for her. It was this feeling, combined with the panic she'd feel in the darkness. Then she couldn't help but envy, only for a brief moment, Maria's ability to switch off her empathy. The thought of what it must be like for her brought back memories of too many of her own experiences. Which then lead her to feel guilty for even considering the idea that turning off her empathy could ever be a good thing.

Understanding was more important than comfort. That discomfort was what people needed to feel to be driven to action. Too often people simply change the channel or close the tab. That behavior extended to the real world where people would put on noise-canceling headphones and walk right by the starving homeless people without sparing a penny. It can't affect you if you can't hear them beg. People simply choose to stay lost in their own worlds rather than face their miserable reality.

In the so-called 'first world', you don't need to turn on the TV to see starving people in some distant land. You only need to look out the window. Perhaps that was the reason so many new apartments across the U.K. were being advertised with the inclusion of custom display windows? Why be forced to see the real world when you could just open your curtains in the morning and be treated to a view of galaxies or some tropical paradise instead?

Technologically induced apathy, now available in paper thin super ultra high definition with high dynamic range! And for a limited time, for only £1000 extra, you can have glasses-free 3D for that added depth!

The thought made Josephine so furious she spit on the shower floor, as if spitting in the face of some vulgar pedo-oligarch in central London after he pinched her bottom at a bus stop and offered her a ride in his expensive sports car followed by a night in his exclusive Kensington flat.

Such was his audacity that he actually believed he was a white knight riding a green Lamborghini coming in to rescue a supremely beautiful maiden from the indignity of riding a double-decked red limousin through Knightsbridge in the height of tourist season at rush hour. Then as if to compound the humiliation, people looked at her as if she'd grown a second head for refusing his extremely inappropriate, criminal, unwanted, and uninvited advance! As if she should be ashamed that she wasn't a golddigger!

She punched the shower wall in anger before thoroughly shaking that disgusting memory out of her head. A memory that made her feel so dirty she felt the need to wash all over again.

Oh, how she loathed London, and how she never wanted to ever set foot in that accused city ever again. But to work in government, she'd be compelled to live somewhere in that modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. Leeds was no better to be sure, but it was home, and home was where the heart was.

Their world was horrid enough as it was. There was simply no need to go out of one's way make it worse for anyone. Including Maria. She didn't have to do it to anyone, and nobody had to do it to her. Josephine just hoped that the vivaciously vulgar American had learned a lesson from all this.

It didn't matter that this was all of Maria's own making. All may be fair in love and war, but these people had all lowered themselves to truly despicable acts. The question she now had to consider was, how could she lead her side to victory without losing the moral high ground. She had to be successful. Failure wasn't an option. The ship's course had to be corrected. Josephine had to lead by example.

She would show them exactly what could be achieved from the high ground.

Just as Obi-wan Kenobi showed Anakin Skywalker.

"It's over Anakin. I have the high ground!" she recited to herself in imitation of Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice and giggled. The self-amusement seemed to have done the trick to cheer her up from her depressing thought process.

"You underestimate my power!" exclaimed Maria from outside the shower.

Josephine widened her eyes before instantly feeling the sting of the shampoo, "Ack! Oh, this... this is so embarass-" she started before she heard the toilet flush.

" **AHHHHHHHH!"** she screamed while jumping out of the suddenly extremely hot water stream.

"Achievement unlocked: Payback!" exclaimed Maria while clapping her hands together excitedly.

"Hahahaha! Well played Maria! Well played!"

"Thank you! Thank you very much!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better now thank you. I'll let you get back to it. May the water force be with you."

Josephine laughed loudly before she managed to get out her answer, "I'll be finished in a moment."

* * *

After her shower, she sat at the dining table in a t-shirt and sweatpants with a towel around her wet hair, a mug of tea in her hands. Maria sat opposite her with her own mug of tea, seemingly lost in thought.

"Maria? What's on your mind?"

The ravenette slowly set down her cup and took a deep breath. "I've already told you way too much. You don't want to be getting inside my head. You're afraid of the dark, and believe me, it's very dark in there."

"May I at least know what exactly is the cause of this fear you have?"

"Will you tell me the reason for yours?"

Josephine nodded, "That's fair. It's not a very dramatic story, but, as you know, we don't have any money. Most children go through a phase where they're afraid of the dark and want their parents to come, be with them, and put them at ease…"

She had to pause and take a deep breath to steady her nerves, she set down her cup and rubbed her sweaty palms on her sweatpants briefly before she continued.

"I didn't have that. When I was going through that particular phase, my parents were working night shifts. They also worked day shifts. Frankly, I've no idea when they ever found time to sleep back in those days, but I digress. For a while, they couldn't afford the electricity and it was cut off. I was on my own so much in the dark… Trapped in my own mind…"

She paused again, and took another deep breath. "Being trapped in the dark. Alone. With naught but the monsters in my head for company. Thinking thoughts I should not utter. It had an effect on me. A permanent effect on me. My parents blame themselves for it but it wasn't their fault. The situation was what it was, it was either that, or we starve. At least I understand that now… I doubt I shall ever forgive myself for how I treated them back then. I was so upset with my mother and father for leaving me all alone. It wasn't as if they could afford a babysitter while the electricity was off and the bill collectors were harassing them."

"What about your grandmother? Weren't you two very close?"

"She came to live with us after this. As a result of it in fact. My parents didn't want to trouble her, but in the end, they had no choice. They couldn't just leave me all alone while I was that young. At least not any more than they already had. But I suppose as a result of it I was more mature and independent than most other children my age. The first time a child successfully uses the toaster to make herself food, should be a moment of celebration shared with a parent. I had to share that moment with an imaginary friend."

"Heh… Yeah. Good ol' imaginary friends for company…"

"All my friends were like that. Until I met you and McKenna. Funny enough, my friendships with the two of you are the first real ones I've ever made. Such as they are."

"Really?" asked Maria with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed. The only other friends I have are people I've never met," she said while gesturing towards her laptop. "My guildmates. I suppose I've always had an easier time dealing with them in the simplistic context of the games we play instead of the convoluted context of the real world… That's why I feel like I'm always walking on eggshells with the two of you. I'm never quite sure what to do, what to think, what to feel… I've never had such experiences before now."

"I think you've done just fine. But for what it's worth. Whatever you screw up, I'll never hold it against you. Even if you can't do that for me."

"You're wrong. I can. And I do."

Maria smiled a rare genuine smile. Not a sarcastic, smug, or arrogant smile, but a warm smile which made Josephine smile back.

"So. I've told you mine."

Maria nodded and took a deep breath. "When I was living in Alaska I only had one friend."

Josephine nodded.

"Eventually… We started dating."

Josephine raised an eyebrow at that.

"Then one night I was sleeping over at her house."

"Please don't tell me a dirty story…"

"No. Nothing like that. At least nothing exactly like that. We played that little game, 'Show me yours, I'll show you mine.' Well. She did. I didn't."

"So I suppose that you're long-winded way of saying you're not going to be telling me the story of your mysophobia?"

"Mysophobia? That what its called?"

"Indeed. And fear of the dark is called nyctophobia."

Maria sighed and picked up her teacup, "Good to know."

The blonde girl sipped from her tea, she supposed Maria wouldn't be forthcoming today.

* * *

At one of the arenas, Jennifer Hawkins flew at breakneck speed around the arena while firing her beam rifle into whichever of the six Uchigane's she was up against had the audacity to try and intercept her.

" _Stop showing off Hawkins…"_ she heard her teacher say to her over the comm, " _Slow down and fight them properly."_

"You mean give them even more of a handicap…" she muttered back.

 _"Yes. Slow it down. No ignition boosts, and no leading them around the arena. You're also fighting them at range when they don't have any ranged weapons. So stop being a coward and fight them up close and personal!"_

"You put us into this fight six against one, but I'm the coward?" she demanded while slowing down to let one of her opponents catch up, and then she stabbed her with the tip of her long shield while replacing her beam rifle with her axe to brutally hack into her shield energy.

Another Uchigane came in from behind her current opponent, she reversed away to gain some distance and then threw the full power into her thrusters. The engines snapped to life and accelerated her forward while she brought her leg up to kick the girl in the chest and knocked her all the way down into the arena floor.

She then turned around and finished the job she'd started earlier. The first opponent came at her with her sword held high. Jennifer blocked the blow with her shield and then hacked across her midsection with the axe to drain the last of her shield power.

She hovered in the Kestrel while waiting for her classmate to recover from the knockdown blow she'd just delivered. "Come on! Get up!"

"Screw you Hawkins!" she yelled back. "So you lost to that newbie bitch! Stop taking it out on us! You're supposed to helping us to get stronger!"

"Oh really? Maybe you should think of that the next time you decide to pick on me in class!" she yelled before rapid switching to her beam rifle and then proceeded to unload on the girl while she was still down.

" _ **Damn you! You're NOTHING without an I.S.!"**_ screamed another classmate as she charged her through the air with her Uchigane's sword. She brought the giant katana like blade down over the blonde Australian only to be blocked by her giant shield.

"And you're nothing with one," she said calmly while swapping back to her axe which she then used to hack at her new opponent which forced her to back off in a hurry.

Jennifer almost yawned as she rapidly dematerialized her axe and replaced it with her beam rifle. She aimed the weapon and started firing on the retreating Uchigane.

A third unit came in from behind her, she spun around and started flying backwards while shooting at the advancing Uchigane.

" _Hawkins! I told you to lay off the ranged attacks!"_ yelled her instructor.

Jennifer grumbled while swapping back to her axe, she then flew between two Uchiganes, hitting one with her axe, and slamming the other with her shield as she passed between them before kicking a third and then turned to intercept the oncoming blow of a fourth with her shield before retaliating with her axe.

She half expected her to say no shield either since the Uchigane didn't have one either, but that request never came.

Jennifer ramped up the intensity of her offensive, abusing her classmate's lack of three-dimensional tactical thinking and using the simple addition of up and down to evade and outmaneuver them while dealing blow after blow. She almost imaged Maria's stupidly smug smirking face on each of them as her blows connected. It made each strike of her axe that much more satisfying. It wasn't like her classmates had any sport to offer without the help of her imagination.

" _Come on Miss Taylor! How are we meant to compete with her? The Kestrel is three times faster than the Uchigani on base specs! Her custom unit is three times faster than that!"_

By the end of it all, Jennifer glanced at her shield energy which hadn't even lost a single point, and then looked around at six Uchiganis which would probably spend the rest of the week in the repair shop.

"For all the talk they can muster, they're so damn weak… You had all of last year to train and get up to at least the level I was at when I first got here! But look at you now! Six against one and you're just piles of scrap! How pathetic!"

" _Hawkins!"_ she heard over her communications system.

"Yes, Miss Taylor?"

" _Stop talking! You're meant to be helping them get stronger! Not the other way around!"_

"I can't help it if they spent the last year slacking off. When they were out getting stuffed with cock I was in the arena training day and night. Even with me holding back, they could only last two minutes a pop. If their boyfriends perform the same, it would certainly explain their charming dispositions."

" _Two minutes is an eternity with a Representative Cadet!"_

"Weren't you a Representative Cadet yourself? I feel sorry for _your_ boyfriend if he thinks two minutes is an eternity."

" _Get out and hit the showers! Before I really get mad!"_

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

" _You're nothing without an I.S.!"_

Those words echoed in her mind while she stood under the water in the locker room shower. It felt nice to finally be able to wash up after having all that disgusting food thrown all over her. But it simultaneously felt rotten to know her classmate was right about her. She really was nothing without her I.S. and she knew it.

"Man… What the hell is her malfunction? She went apeshit out there!"

"Shhh! She'll hear you!"

"So what if she does? What's she going to do?"

"Yeah. She was Miss Orimura's favorite last year and it went to her head. She can't do anything except beat up on people during training. She's salty because she only ranked in ninth place despite being personally trained by Brunhilde herself!"

"No. She's salty because of what happened to her sister."

"What happened to her sister?"

"Supposedly she did a joint training exercise in America and her I.S. crashed, now she can't walk."

"Shame that didn't happen to the Devil. Then we might actually be able to train in peace and get ranked ourselves!"

Jennifer clenched her teeth and balled her fists until she couldn't stand it anymore, " **OI! I CAN HEAR YOU FUCKING SLAGS! SHUT YOUR MOUTHS BEFORE I COME OUT THERE AND SHUT THEM PERMANENTLY!"**

"Making threats from the shower Hawkins?" she heard her teacher say from behind her door. "I think you're overdue for a lesson in restraint. Get out of there and get suited back up. You're going to fill in all the divets you made in the arena."

"Yes ma'am…" replied Jennifer through clenched teeth.

"And have it done before sunset! I have to grade your mediocre homework!"

* * *

Jennifer worked her I.S. with a big shovel to move dirt around and fill in the craters she blasted with the bodies of her classmates. By now both she and her Kestrel were covered in dirt and she'd have to shower again. It was made worse by the fact that her hair was still wet and catching all the dust she was throwing up into the air with her every movement.

"You're so unbelievably useless. With all the special attention you got from Orimura last year, I expected a lot more of you. You have no restraint, and your attitude is deplorable. You call yourself a Christian, yet you act like a trollop. So what is it with you? What is your problem?"

Jennifer's teeth clenched as she listened and finally she snapped and turned around with a powerful stomp of the Kestrel's large foot.

"You're my problem! You disgusting limey WASP! Why don't you jump into this hole and let me put you out of my misery!"

"Oh my! Look at the pair on you!"

"I'm so sick of this! You've been on my ass since day one! You let everyone in the class say and do whatever they want to me! You slap me in front of everyone! Make me look weak and pathetic! You're supposed to be a teacher! What are you trying to teach me exactly? If it's how to be a better bitch, you're doing _that_ _ **FLAWLESSLY!**_ "

"Are you finished?"

"I haven't even started!" she exclaimed before tossing aside the giant shovel. "Did I do something to offend you? Or do you just think you can stick it to Miss Orimura by sticking it to me?!"

"I see you also have an inflated sense of self. I can correct that as well. After you're finished with these craters. You're cleaning the locker room. Showers, toilettes, floor, I want them all so clean I can eat off them. If the lesson still doesn't take, we can try something else until it does," she said before turning around to walk away from the arena.

Jennifer sighed heavily. "Thank you, Lord, for your patience in trying to teach me humility. But I'm worried you're wasting your time… and I might shoot your messenger if this keeps up..."

* * *

After she finished with her 'punishment' Jennifer emerged from the locker room with a sour look on her face when her phone went off. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out to see who was calling. 'Unknown Number' said the display. She answered the call and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

" _Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn!"_ she heard a girl say ecstatically over the line.

"Rin?!" asked Jennifer.

" _Who else?!"_

"Oh, you don't know how badly I needed a nice surprise like this! How are you?"

" _I'm doing great! I was just thinking of you and thought I'd call. I miss you a lot!"_

"I miss you too. I miss hanging out with you on the weekends, and I damn sure miss your food!"

" _Yeah… It's a shame about the restaurant..."_

"Yes, it is. I'm so sorry about your parents."

" _Thank you…"_

"How're you getting along with your uncle?" asked Jennifer while taking a seat on a bench.

" _He's always busy. Too busy to talk to me. I haven't been able to make any friends here… After what happened to the last girl, I have bodyguards following me around and it's so annoying! I can't get even a moment to myself! Sorry… I didn't mean to yell there."_

"It's ok. You need to vent, I'm here to listen," she said reassuringly.

"Everything's just so intense. It's one thing after another I don't have any time to myself at all."

"That's an understatement. I'll never forget my pre-training it was the hardest thing I've ever done. You have to grow up a lot faster and it really does put a lot of pressure on you. I did my best to prepare you for it, but it's all up to you now. All I can do is listen and encourage you."

" _You did, and you are! I wouldn't be here now if I didn't have you helping me. I owe you so much!"_

"Just be happy, and let me see you here next year, kicking ass and taking names!"

" _That's a promise! Say. Have you by any chance seen Ichika?"_

"I think it's better for everyone if I stay away from that boy. I don't care who's brother he is, the next time I see him, I will _hurt_ him."

" _What do you have against him?"_

"The fact that he's too stupid to live? The way he doesn't understand your feelings for him? It pisses me off so much! I'd strangle him if he had a brain to deprive of oxygen! You could do so much better than him."

" _Haha! That's why I miss you so much! You get me like nobody else does!"_

"Why don't you call him yourself if you're so curious about him?"

" _ **WHAT?! NO! HE SHOULD BE CALLING ME!"**_

"Eeeeesh…" muttered Jennifer while holding the phone away from her ear. "Someone's developed a temper. Hope she didn't learn that from me..." she whispered to herself.

"Yes, he should. But we both know his head has the density of osmium. Remember what the density of that is?"

" _Twenty-two grams per cubic centimeter! I remember! I remember everything you taught me!"_

"That's my girl!"

" _Jenny…"_

"Talk to me. What's on your mind."

" _I'm kinda… scared."_

"About what?" she asked while leaning back. She crossed her legs and made herself comfortable to listen.

" _What if I don't make it through the pre-training? The competition to get here was so intense, and they never let me forget how quickly and easily I can be replaced..."_

"Even getting to the Academy doesn't stop that. There's always someone waiting for the chance to take your place. The trick is to not let the fear rule over you. You need to learn how to own that fear and let it fuel you."

" _Is that why you like climbing stupidly high stuff?"_

"Exactly. I'm not suggesting you go and climb a crane. But I am suggesting you find something to use that fear on. Learn to accept it, and get past it instead of letting it hold you back. Every single day, you have to push the boundaries, take chances, go beyond what you think you're capable of. Reach your limits and work to exceed them. And keep doing it better than the next girl."

" _I understand. I'll do my best not to let you down."_

"You couldn't possibly let me down. I love you so very much and I'll always support you. You hear me? I'll always be here for you no matter what. Any time. If you just wanna talk, or if there's anything you need. Just call me."

 _"Do you still want to come to visit China? They told me they'll give me two weeks off in the summer to do whatever I want. So if you're not going back to Australia then-"_

"Hell yes, of course I still wanna see China! And I can definitely set aside two weeks for it before the Mondo Grosso. By the way, would they let you travel to see it?"

 _"No way. They're going to make me watch it here and study the fights, and test me on it after. But yeah. Come to China! It's gonna be so amazing! I'll make a good plan for us so you can see all the really good stuff!"_

"Don't forget about the wall! I want to run on it. I wanna start on one end and just go, for as long and as far as I can in one sprint. It's a bucket list thing."

" _Promise! Oh. And one more thing."_

"Name it."

 _"I just got offered a new modeling job, but the contract is… I'm not sure I understand it. It has all these stupidly long and complicated terms and conditions. Could you take a look at it and advise me? I have a lawyer here who is supposed to advise me, but I don't trust him."_

"Nor should you. Send it over to me and I'll go through it and get back to you as soon as I can. And good job on not just signing stuff without understanding it first. Remember they'll always try to exploit you in any which way they can! The lawyers working for Representative Pilots more often than not also work for the companies and agencies. So no, never fully trust them to have your best interests at heart."

" _I remember. That's why I wanna run it by you first. I trust you to give me good advice."_

"I appreciate that. Anything else? I need to go in a minute. A friend invited me for dinner and I don't want to be late."

" _A boyfriend?"_

"Are you serious? This is an all girls school…"

" _So you don't have a boyfriend?"_

"No. I mean, I have someone I'd be interested in. But I don't think he's interested in me."

" _Why not?"_

"I don't know. Every guy I know ends up friend-zoning me. It's supposed to be the other way around damn it!"

" _So what's for dinner?"_

"Clever girl. You know me too well. I've no idea what's for dinner, but when you get here, I advise you to stick to the Ramen in the cafeteria. Order anything fancier than that and you're playing Russian Roulette. Except you get the Hershey Squirts instead of a bullet."

" _Hershey squirts? What's that?"_

"Umm… Yeah… You know those bottles of chocolate syrup?"

" _Yeah?"_

"You know the sound they make sometimes when you squeeze them?"

 _"Yeah? Oh, wait! No! NO! EEEEEW!"_

"Yeah. It isn't pretty. Lemmie tell ya."

" _Please don't tell me! Good thing Ramen is my favorite."_

* * *

McKenna opened the door and almost fell into the dorm room from exhaustion.

"Welcome home dear," said Josephine from in front of the stove.

"You will not believe the shit I've been through today…" said the exasperated Canadian as she stepped in and shut the door behind her.

"Have you had a chance to shower?"

"Yeah. Right after training…" she took a sniff of the air. "What're you cooking? That smells amazing!" she asked, suddenly sounding more energized than when she first walked in.

"One of my favorites. Black Bean Soup."

"I'd make a joke about how much soup you cook, but I can't because they're always amazing and filling."

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying them. I would love to cook more of a variety, but with this tiny refrigerator, I'm afraid to get too much."

"Makes sense. At least we're not big snackers."

"Indeed. By the way, I invited Jenny over for dinner. Could you extend an invitation to Tatenashi? I'd like to get us all together to discuss the current situation and my plan for resolving it."

"Sure. But. Where's Maria?"

" **IN THE SHITTER!"** yelled Maria from the bathroom.

"Sorry I asked…" mumbled McKenna as she walked into the living room.

* * *

Tatenashi, McKenna, Maria, Josephine, and Jennifer all sat around the table and ate. Tatenashi and Jennifer both wore matching clean uniforms of the same styling, except with the bluenette wearing a yellowish vest, and the blonde wearing a white vest and had the sleeves of her shirt rolled up. Josephine sat in a bathrobe and had a towel wrapped around her head to hold up her damp hair. McKenna wore gray sweatpants with a Canucks hockey jersey while Maria wore a torn up old plain white t-shirt that seemed five sizes too big for her, black pajama pants, and treaded socks.

The first thing which had to be done was to get Tatenashi and Jennifer up to speed on the situation and the players involved. That was when Tatenashi dropped the bombshell on Maria's head which hit her like a garbage bag.

"You should probably know that Mayuzumi was the one who did it."

Maria slammed her fist down into the table hard enough to rattle everyone's plates and glasses. "That fucking cunt! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Josephine instantly reached out an smacked Maria across the back of the head hard enough to send her face into the table.

"OWWWW! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" cried out Maria while everyone was stunned into silence by Josephine's hard and angry glare.

"Hah! Serves you right!" exclaimed a very amused Jennifer.

"I tolerate a lot from you Maria. But I do not ever want to hear that word at this table. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"So I should leave the table to use that word then?"

"You know very well what I mean. Do not use it. That is where I draw the line."

"Damn… Fine. Fine. Sheeesh. You could have just said something you know…" muttered Maria while rubbing the back of her head and nose with both hands.

"Now that you're behaving like a proper Class-Rep, I need to make you a proper paper fan to go with it! Then you can whack Maria around anime style!" exclaimed an amused Tatenashi.

"Mind if I ask what the big deal is Josie?" asked Jennifer. "In Australia we say it all the time, very casually in fact."

"I just don't like that word. May we leave it at that for now?" replied Josephine.

McKenna took a moment of the awkward silence to make a mental note on Maria's behavior just now. She almost broke someone's arm earlier today for a lot less. In fact Maria's reaction to the candy wrapper incident was almost instantaneous and brutal violence. But Josephine almost broke her nose and all she did was curse.

"Aaaannnnywaaaay…We stayed quiet because we knew you'd react this way and we didn't know what to do with the information at the time."

"Maria. Think about how they must have felt for a moment," started Josephine. "She was their friend. They trusted her. They worked with her on Tatenashi's personal unit. They studied together. They let her into their heads, and probably into their hearts as well. McKenna spent a night in her dorm. That's a level of trust. Then McKenna gave her hospitality in our room as well. That's another level of trust. We tolerated it in spite of our feelings towards her. We respected Mayuzumi because we respect McKenna and Tatenashi. That meant something to them. So imagine how betrayed they must feel?"

"Speak for yourself. I didn't remember showing her any respect."

Tatenashi chuckled at that. "Respect? No. Tolerance? Acceptance? Yes. You never tried to throw her out or make a stand to deny her entry. This is your room too, and thus, you have the right to refuse to give hospitality. So don't lie about it, Maria. I think you were starting to like her."

Maria rolled her eyes. "She still hated my guts. So what's it fucking matter?"

McKenna pointed straight at the ravenette, "It matters a lot because it's why we kept our mouths shut. You don't like anyone. So the fact that even _**YOU**_ were starting to accept her, says a lot."

"That's so not true. I like all of you just fine!"

"I'm only here for them! Don't lump me into your social circle! I still hate you with a passion!" yelled Jennifer.

"Yeah. And that makes me even wetter for you!"

Tatenashi started laughing. McKenna and Josephine each palmed their faces while Jennifer turned red and started fuming.

"You are disgusting!"

Josephine looked up and decided it was time to nip this and move the conversation forward. "Ladies, please! Now that we're all on the same page. Perhaps it's time we started examining our options for dealing with the situation?"

"Shā yī jǐng bǎi."

All eyes turned on Maria.

"It means-"

Jennifer interrupted with a harsh voice, "Kill one to warn a hundred. I know what it means."

"Impressive! How do you know that?" asked Maria.

"I speak Mandarin. I practically lived with a Chinese family last year. They taught me in return for tutoring their daughter for her I.S. preparations."

Josephine chuckled, "You see? You have common ground. You're both interested in languages. I'd love to see you two trading notes instead of insults."

"Like that'll ever happen…" muttered Jennifer.

"So do you actually have an idea?" asked Tatenashi. "Or are you just showing off your Mandarin?"

"If it were entirely up to me-"

"Oh this should be good!" scoffed Jennifer.

"I would play their game back at them. Show them how a pro does it. She wants to hit at my worst fear. I'll hit hers even harder."

"For argument's sake, let's pretend for a moment I would actually allow you to do that. Which for the record, I absolutely would not. But say I did. What would you do to her?" inquired Josephine.

"I'm not sure yet. But I'll find her weakest spot. I'll beat down everyone she knows until someone gives me something good."

"Are we actually listening to this?" asked Jennifer.

Josephine nodded, "Right. I move to veto that idea."

"Seconded," muttered Jennifer.

"Thirded," added McKenna.

"Fourthed," said Tatenashi.

"The motion carries…" said a rueful Josephine.

"Alright, Josie. What have you got?" asked McKenna.

Josephine nodded, "You inspired hatred. That was your flaw, Maria. To quote from a much wiser person than I; 'A prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred.' Meaning that you need to learn how to be feared without being hated because fear inspires subservience, and hatred inspires revolt."

"What's that from?" asked Tatenashi. "I like it."

"Machiavelli. The Prince. Chapter Seventeen," supplied Jennifer.

"Never took you for a reader of Machiavelli."

Jennifer shrugged, "You're not the only edified chick at this table."

Josephine smiled at the Australian, "I think we're going to have a long and wonderful friendship."

"Aww. They're in love!" declared Maria.

"You be quiet!" yelled Jennifer.

"So here's what I would do. If the goal is to inspire fear without hatred… Adults will tell you that it's simply best to ignore bullies until they go away, or worse, to simply report it and let the staff handle it. That's one of many reasons why traditional school education is not in any way conducive to education, the life lessons imparted do not translate to the real world, to say nothing of the actual coursework. So if we just wander around trying to be diplomatic and negotiate a cessation of hostilities with everyone, or go to Miss Orimura, we're only going to look weak and compromise our negotiating position,

To avoid that, we have to approach this in such a way that we can approach our peers from a position of strength. Now we can't just fight each of them in an I.S. duel, but we can play their game back at them without actually crossing the red line I can still see Maria thinking about…"

Maria looked up at Josephine and blushed.

"So. The solution is a measured and precisely targeted strike. Show them we have the capacity and the will to fight this war to its conclusion and emerge victoriously. Hopefully, this will make them think twice about how they choose to escalate matters going forward. Now, how do we achieve that you may wonder?"

As the girls listened to the plan, even Maria's face lit up with pride at the deviousness being displayed by her friend.

"Alright. That's what we're going to do!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

"Agreed. I'll go get what I need," added Jennifer.

"Same here! Oh, this is gonna be great!" added the bluenette.

"And I guess I'll go do our laundry," said Maria while standing up.

"No Maria. I'll do it. You just stay here," said Josephine. "The last thing we need is more people throwing garbage at you when we're not around to control your fight or flight responses."

"My response is always to fight!"

"That's what worries me," she replied while standing up with Jennifer and Tatenashi. "We're lucky Miss Edwards was the one to catch us in our kerfuffle. If that had been Miss Orimura, you'd be expelled by now."

"So this whole plan is sort of like putting on a play isn't it?" asked Tatenashi.

"Something like that," replied Josephine. "All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players."

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" asked Maria.

"When the hurlyburly's done, when the battle's lost and won!" recited McKenna.

"That will be ere the set of sun," said Josephine.

"Where the place?" asked Maria.

Jennifer and Tatenashi blinked and then stared blankly at the trio.

"Upon the heath!" replied McKenna.

"There to meet with Macbeth!" declared Josephine.

"What the hell have you been taking? I think I want some," remarked Tatenashi.

"I come, graymalkin!"

"Paddock calls!"

"Anon!"

"Fair is foul and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air!" they recited together.

"And… Exeunt!" declared McKenna.

* * *

Josephine set the laundry basket down in the corridor with a sigh. It was so rare to get moments alone to digest the rollercoaster of events that seemed to follow her and her roommates around the school. Today seemed to be the day where she'd have that in abundance.

As she fiddled with the door handle, she thought about Maria and her inevitable retaliation. It was too late to distance herself from it all she supposed. As their roommate, she was inextricably linked to McKenna and Maria both. Besides, the attack on Maria was an injustice, she was loud and crazy and a bit obnoxious but she didn't deserve that trauma, she'd already had enough in her life. Maria had certainly given her a great deal to think about, and even more to rethink.

Josephine sighed again, it was no use trying to analyse what would happen in such detail tonight. Her machinations needed cooperation from everyone, and everyone's skills too. For now, all she could do was make Maria's life more comfortable, both to help a friend and hopefully mitigate some of the fury that she no doubt still felt from being humiliated as she was.

Josephine placed the basket neatly on the floor and began sorting through the laundry and separating them into coloured, white and dark piles so they could be washed in separate machines at the same time, each student had a few sets of the standard I.S. Academy uniform which, rather annoyingly, consisted of white, red, black, and gray. Did it not it occur to whomever set the uniform in this place that such a thing might go wrong? Which pile were the uniforms meant to be washed in? Separately as their own? Mixed color load?

Poor planning and organisation, she thought to herself with a slight smile, she'd do things differently if it were up to her. Maybe one day it would be? She knew she wanted to make a positive difference to the world but governing also requires sweating over details and even details as simple as what colour the uniforms should be could make a difference over the lives of students. But perhaps she was over thinking. That too was one of the flaws she knew she had.

As she contemplated their uniforms and hesitantly bundled them into the washer along with the rest of their white laundry she heard footsteps in the corridor outside and prepared herself for some company to appear in the washroom with a smile, being alone with her thoughts was nice enough but menial tasks like this one often lead her to procrastinate if she wasn't forced to do it. She shook her head and began piling in the dark coloured washing, debating for a moment where to put her favorite green sweater before deciding it belonged with the coloured laundry and set it aside for the third load.

She didn't have time to turn and look before the door burst open and the light was banished from the room. In an instant, her capacity for rational thought had been extinguished with the lights. It was like a fist of ice clenched around her guts, spreading an arctic chill up her spine and throughout her entire body.

She slumped to her knees and then onto her side, her body suddenly becoming stiff and heavy.

She cried out in terror as the crack of light from the hallway outside was extinguished by someone closing the door.

She squeezed her eyes shut, her face already soaked in salty water as she sobbed, clutching violently at her chest in panic.

She tried to speak, to plead for the light to return and for whoever it was to stop whatever they were doing.

But all that came was sharp intakes of breath, followed by shaking moans of agony and fear.

She curled into a ball to try and regain some semblance of control but her arm was violently wrenched off her legs by an unseen hand.

She felt her watch, her I.S. Frame's inactive state, being torn off her arm.

She yelped and cried, clawing and flailing in with her right arm at her attacker.

She kept her eyes firmly shut as she sobbed again, more each one getting louder and scratching her vocal chords until all she could feel was a painful lump in her throat.

She clenched her teeth so hard her gums started to ache but she felt the strap of the watch being undone, and finally, it was mercilessly and painfully removed from her wrist.

Her attacker thrust her arm to the ground and triumphantly walked away.

The door must've been opened again for them to leave the room but she didn't notice any light.

She remained curled up on the floor in between the rows of laundry machines with only their rumbling noise for company.

Josephine sobbed as loudly as she could until nothing but whimpers and ragged breath remained.

* * *

McKenna sat at the computer desk to finish her homework while Maria sat on Josephine's bed with her guitar, strumming a familiar tune which she just couldn't name, but knew.

Before she could say something about it, her phone vibrated and she quickly looked at it to see a message from her boyfriend.

" _You haven't texted me today?"_

" _Sorry I was busy."_ she typed back. " _Chick drama."_

" _1440 minutes in a day and you couldn't use one to message me?"_

 _"Sorry, sweety. Just getting bullied by our classmates. So I was distracted."_

 _"Nobody ever bullied you here at home."_

" _Yeah. I guess that's why I have no idea what I'm really doing in this situation I'm in. I feel so lost and alone right now. I'm just going with the flow of my roomies and I hate it."_

" _You need to grow up. That's all there is to it."_

" _Why would you say that?"_

" _Because you're being lead around by those cunts who are getting you into trouble that you wouldn't be in if you didn't hang around them. Just worry about yourself and your own problems. Problem solved. Make sense?"_

 _"No. It makes no sense. Why should I turn my back on my friends?"_

 _"Oh, they're your friends now? Haven't we been through this? See what I mean about you needing to grow up? Not everyone has to be your friend. You delude yourself into thinking strangers give a shit about you. They don't. You're just there. And they're gonna use you. Same as your 'friends' here who just always got jealous of you. When you got a boyfriend, everyone got jealous and spread rumors about you. When you built your first racing drone, nobody cared about your achievement but me. When you became an I.S. pilot they spread even worse rumors about you."_

" _What rumors?!"_

" _I didn't tell you about that because I didn't want you to feel bad. So how do you feel now?"_

" _Pretty shitty…"_

" _Well. That's fine. Once you reach the pinnacle of shittiness, there's nowhere to go but up. :)"_

McKenna clenched her phone and teeth tightly. " _So what should I do about the bullies?"_

" _Nothing. Just uninvolve yourself and everything will work out. You weren't involved before and things were fine weren't they?"_

 _"Apparently not… I need to think about this."_

 _"You'll see I'm right. Don't forget the game on Saturday. Let's talk while we watch it. Then it'll be like we're watching it together."_

 _"Sure. Talk to you soon."_

After she put down the phone, the rhythm of Maria's guitar got stuck in her head immediately and she glanced up and directly at the ravenette. "Hey, Maria! What the hell is the name of that song?! It's pissing me off now!"

"Just something I got stuck in my head while thinking about that beautiful as fuck desert rose Josie made friends with, then I started remembering Arizona and Nevada and testing the Meteor out in the desert. It's a song of a story of how… _I've been through the desert on_ _ **a horse with no name**_ _, it felt good to be out of the rain."_ she sang with a very heavy emphasis on the title in the lyrics. " _In the desert, you can't remember your name cuz there ain't no one for to give you no pain._ _Laaaaa, laaaaa, la, la la la, la la la, laaaa, la!"_

"Alright! I get it! Quiet down before we have another home invasion!"

"Fuck 'em."

"You're even worse than my boyfriend!"

Maria shrugged her shoulders, "Why? What'd he do this time? It'd be good to know what I'm competing with."

"Neither of you have a fuck to give."

"What can I say? It's the best way to live. No disappointments that way. Now I wonder what's taking Josie so damn long?" wondered Maria while setting aside her guitar.

"She's probably taking a while because it just takes a while to presoak the panties of a little anal retentive bitch we both know. You know, the one who leaves more skid marks than a getaway car..."

"You really think pretty low of me don't you?"

"Yes, I do. You haven't exactly given me, or anyone, any reason to think better of you. It's your own damn fault. It's your fault we're in this shitty situation. It's your fault Jenny's sister is a fucking quadriplegic, it's your fault Josephine got humiliated in class today, and it's entirely your fucking fault I got thrown into those fucking lockers! You know how much my back still hurts from that shit?! And by the way, you should also be doing your fucking homework!"

"Why? Once the others get back we're going to go get started on Josie's plan?"

"Just get it out the way so you won't worry about it!"

"But I'm not worried about it? I can do that shit in my sleep."

"Alright, miss smarty soiled panties. Solve this!"

Maria sighed while standing up, she put her guitar down on Josephine's bed and then stepped over to glance over McKenna's shoulder. The brunette was pointing out an algebra problem with the tip of her pen in her textbook.

"X is negative three," said Maria before going back to sit on the bed.

"You're guessing! You can't do this shit in your head!"

"Solve it yourself and see."

McKenna growled from her throat. "I don't know how…"

"How'd you pass your entrance exam if you don't know how to solve linear equations?"

"Scored flawlessly in everything but math. Got an exemption because of my other abilities and skills… Now I'm boned because I can't do this pointless shit."

"Alright…" said Maria while she started pacing about. "Let's evaluate your math level and see where your education was deficient. Answer me as quick as you can. Two plus two?"

"Are you serious?"

"Very serious. Eight plus nine?"

"Seventeen…"

"Twenty-nine minus eighteen?"

McKenna squinted her eyes and then Maria smacked her across the head when she started using her fingers. "That's where you failed! No fingers!"

"So what?! Everyone uses their fingers!"

"I only use my fingers for music and masturbation. Ten times ten?"

"One hundred and eeew!"

"Don't pretend you don't do it too, I've heard you in the shower! Twenty-three times nine?"

"Uhh… Can we stop for a moment and talk about you eaves-"

Maria smacked her again. "'Stay focused! Ninety divided by three?"

"Stop hitting me or I'll hit you back bitch!"

Maria pulled up the chair beside McKenna and sat herself down. "You can't reliably do basic math. That's why you're struggling so much."

"We're not all human calculators! I can do basic math if I have some paper to write it out. I can't just solve problems in my head!"

"So you need to visualize to do math?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you ever make a multiplication table when you were in elementary?"

"Yes! Of course, I did!"

"You didn't memorize it? Did you?"

McKenna sighed very deeply. "No… I was lazy and distracted. I didn't think it was important."

"Honestly. Neither did I. I was also kind of a dumbass when I was little. If it didn't involve music, I didn't give a fuck."

"So how'd you get up to this level?" asked McKenna while tapping on her book. "Actually wait… I'm wasting my questions," she said while pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"What I really want to know, no, what I _**have**_ to know is… How the hell did you go from **THIS**..." McKenna held up her phone with a picture of the younger and much heavier Maria. "To **THIS!** " she exclaimed while pointing at her.

"Holy fucking shit! I haven't seen that big fat bitch in such a long ass time! Glad they didn't post that picture up in the classroom."

"Would you answer me?"

"Simple. I just started to watch what I eat."

"Going in or coming out?"

"Oh! Oh, you're funny! I do subtraction with a treadmill, but you do it with your fingers!"

"Up yours!"

Maria blushed and lewdly spread her legs. "By all means. After all the practice you've had in the shower I'd love to test you," she said salaciously.

The Canadian sighed and facepalmed. "You're so screwed up in the head. You and Tatenashi both!"

"Yes, we are. Now for your problem. You just gotta go back to basics. Solve basic math problems and work on your memory retention. My math tutor combined guitar music with math and it helped me a lot because it kept me interested long enough to learn what I needed. The brain's like a muscle. You gotta train it. Some exercises are just more fun than others, but as the saying goes; 'friends don't let friends skip leg day'! Or in this case, Brain Day. You're not going to remember algebraic formulas if you can't quickly tell me what a hundred and thirty-eight divided by two is."

She quickly turned back to her homework and tried to ignore the ravenette but the question gnawed at her until she finally folded and did the division on paper… Then she turned to the grinning American and smacked her one upside the head.

"One more question. What about your eyes?"

"What about my eyes?"

"How did they turn red like that?"

Maria picked up her acoustic guitar after sitting back down on Josephine's bed, she strummed a couple of chords while keeping her gaze up at the ceiling.

"Will you please tell me?"

Maria strummed another chord, and then another.

The Canadian turned around, frustrated with the lack of an answer and returned to her homework. But then the seemingly random chords turned into a very recognizable tune.

" _She's a good girl, loves her mama. Loves hockey, and America too. And she's a good girl, crazy 'bout Bieber. Loves Jesus, and her girlfriend too…"_

McKenna raised an eyebrow. She put her pen down and turn back around to look at the little American and listen to her singing. She didn't know anything about guitars herself, but her older brother played, and played well. Maria too played very well. But there was something to be said of the sound which emerged from that instrument. A familiar quality of sound. It was rich, dynamic, powerful, and just generally full sounding.

Maria's guitar was jet black with only some small bits of white detailing around the sound hole, and the outer body. The fretboard had a white leafy vine design going from the bottom to the top. She leaned in for a closer look at the final fret which had a signature inlaid into it, Maria's own. She next looked up to the head of the guitar which said 'Martin' vertically with a C and an F on either side of the M. Which was a name McKenna did know, her big brother had one just like it that her father commissioned for him as a university graduation present. Hence why she didn't immediately recognize it. Her brother's instrument was more traditional with plain wood colors instead of the black hole affair Maria was holding, and of course, hers was configured for a left-hander.

She found it very odd that someone who had no money could afford to carry around an over ten thousand American dollar custom built dreadnought style acoustic guitar.

" _And it's a long day... livin' in Anchorage. There's a freeway,_ _ **runnin' through the yard!**_ _And I'm a bad girl, cause I don't even miss her. And she's a bad girl, for breakin' my heart…"_

" _ **Now I'm free! Free fallin'! Yeah, I'm free! Free fallin'!**_ "

McKenna felt her heart ache at the sound of that chorus. The way Maria's voice carried it, it was a sound which came to her directly from a tortured soul.

" _Now all the wolves are, walkin' by the river. I'm headed south now, to someplace strange. And the good girls, are happy and warm. While this bad girl, is flyin' away!"_

" _ **Now I'm free! Free fallin'! Yeah, I'm free! Free fallin'!**_ ""

" _ **Free fallin', now I'm, free fallin', now I'm, free fallin', now I'm..."**_

" _I wanna fly down, over Las Vegas. I wanna write her... name in the sky! I wanna free fall, down into nothin'. I wanna leave this... world for awhile..."_

" _ **Now I'm free! Free fallin'! Yeah, I'm free! Free fallin'!**_ ""

As Maria finished singing, there was a loud knock at the door. McKenna turned to go open it when the door seemed to just open itself right up. She got ready to kick the ass of whomever had the audacity to do such a thing when she saw that it was just Jennifer and Tatenashi walking in. She relaxed her aggressive posture and sighed in irritation.

"Sorry about that McKenna. Tatenashi seems eager to compete with Maria in the arena of impropriety."

"You noticed that huh?" replied the thoroughly exasperated Canadian.

"Anyway, the singing is way too loud. Keep it down! And I brought my drone," said Jennifer.

"And I got costumes from the drama club!"

"And could you please explain to this dim-wit that we're not dressing my three thousand dollar drone up in a costume! And yes, I'm asking even though I know subtlety is a concept lost on the whole lot of you!"

McKenna got up and walked over to see the expensive quadcopter drone in Jennifer's hands. "That's a nice freaking drone you got there!"

"Why do you even have one of those?" asked Maria. "You don't strike me as the type who'd use it for voyeurism…"

"And that is why we'll never allow you to have one of your own. I use this to film myself doing parkour and urban free climbing. It's a hobby."

"Oh, I love that stuff! Got vids on YouTube?" asked McKenna.

"Yes. But nothing recent. Miss Orimura made me stop after an hour-long lecture about everything I did wrong which lead to half this city using anti-climb paint on just about everything..."

"That must suck for you," remarked Maria with a smug smile.

"Not as much as it's going to suck for you if you don't wipe that shit eating grin off your face!"

"You got any footage on this drone to watch while we wait for Josephine?" asked McKenna to change the subject before they really got into an argument.

"No. But I can put some of my recent private stuff on YouTube up on the big screen if you wanna see?" answered the Australian while getting her phone out of her pocket. "I'll connect this to the TV and put it on for you. I did a climb in Tokyo before school started. Only three hundred forty-nine meters but it was a nice view from up there."

" _ **Only**_ three hundred and forty-nine meters? What's your record?" asked Tatenashi.

"Doesn't count since my footage got confiscated when I got busted by the police, but it was seven hundred and fifty meters."

"Holy crap! Where was that?"

"Dubai. Not a place you wanna go to jail in. After three nights in a detention cell with a bunch of smelly Asian hookers and runaway Indian housemaids they made me sign some papers and deported my ass back to Australia."

"That sucks."

"Not really. I hate it there. I just went last winter to do that climb. It was the tallest active crane in the world at the time. So, let's see Tokyo at night. It's one of my favorite views in the world!"

A short while later the four girls were all seated on the floor next to Josephine's bed watching Jennifer climb the ladder to the top of a tower crane in the middle of Tokyo at night. The view alternated between a head-mounted camera she wore and her drone's footage which followed her along.

Jennifer had just reached the platform with the operator's cab and was taking a moment to show off what she was about to do. The jib of the crane was almost vertical from where she was filming from, she had a long and very steep climb to reach the tip of the crane. The person with her was saying something in Japanese. She didn't reply, but gave him a high five and the pair proceeded to climb on different sides of the jib.

"Is that guy your boyfriend?" asked Tatenashi. "He's talking to you like you're his girlfriend."

"No. He's just a good friend and fellow YouTuber who's into the same stuff as me, so we collaborate from time to time when the opportunity arises."

"That's crazy! I've totally gotta try doing this shit!" exclaimed Maria.

"Do you wear your I.S. while doing these climbs? I mean, if you fall, your absolute defense will kick in," asked McKenna while watching closely.

The point of view perspective constantly made it seem like Jennifer was always about to fall off. The wind made the ultra high definition footage shake as the camera couldn't be kept steady, but she kept going, it was only thanks to what the Canadian knew was intensive and laborious post-processing to eliminate as much camera shake as possible that the footage was even watchable.

"Yes. But its deactivated and stored in my backpack. The safety net defeats the whole purpose."

"One more quick question then. Do you check the load capacity of these cranes before you climb them?" wondered McKenna.

"Why would that matter?"

Tatenashi beamed a wide smile at the television, "She's probably wondering the same thing I am. Does that crane really have what it takes to hold up your — _**GIANT — STEEL — BALLS?!**_ Damn girl! You're standing on the tip with the wind blowing hard and taking a selfie!"

"Yep! She's totally not the stuck up boring bitch I thought she was!" exclaimed Maria. "That's fucking awesome! And holy shit you look so amazingly sexy up there!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes, "Please keep your praise to yourself. Both of you!"

Maria then quickly stood up. "Alright. I'm officially worried now. I'm gonna go check on Josie. She's taking way too long."

"Yeah. I'm coming with you. It's been almost two hours…"

"Why don't we all go?" asked Tatenashi.

"No. You two stay here in case she comes back," answered McKenna.

Maria grinned at them, "You can get started with the costumes."

"We're not dressing up my drone!" exclaimed Jennifer, to which Tatenashi pouted.

* * *

Tatenashi and Jennifer sat in awkward silence at the dinner table. The blonde decided to kill time with social media while Tatenashi just looked around.

"So…"

Jennifer looked up from her phone at the bluenette and then back down at her phone.

"Sorry. I just realized I don't actually know you."

"There's no reason we can't be good strangers," mumbled Jennifer.

"Awww. Don't be like that! We're like Uniform Friends! Uni Sisters!"

Jennifer looked up from her phone for a moment at her and then looked back down again. "Sure. Whatever."

"Grr! You're no fun!"

Jennifer giggled all of a sudden.

"What's funny?"

"I have this friend in Australia who's a cop and he just sent me a pic of him arresting someone for roofing. He said he's glad I don't do that anymore. So I just sent him back the selfie I took in Tokyo from the climb I showed you earlier and said 'I've reached new heights since then'. He showed it to the guy he arrested and then he asked my friend to ask me out on a date for him."

"Damn! And I thought _**you**_ had the biggest balls of steel I've ever seen. Is he good looking at least?"

"Not really."

"That's disappointing…"

"Not really."

"What about the cop? Is he hot?"

"He's ten years older than me…"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"He's not bad looking."

"How'd you meet him?"

"He arrested me for roofing."

"Damn… So how was jail in Australia?"

"Pretty shit. My parents were very pissed off. My sister just wanted to see the videos of me up on the roofs."

Tatenashi sat back in her chair and smiled at herself. "So what is it about urban climbing that you find so amazing?"

"It's not just urban climbing. I like climbing everything. Started when I was a kid, getting up trees. Then the roof of our house. Then the roof of my friend's house. Then the roof of my school building. Then the roof of my friend's apartment building."

"Never been afraid of dying?"

"Of course I'm afraid. That's what makes it such a rush!"

"So you're a hardcore Catholic and a hardcore adrenaline junkie? How does that work?"

"You got me talking to you. Maybe try earning some respect and friendship before you pry into my personal belief system that deeply?"

"You're one tough nut to crack. You know that?"

"I know no greater compliment."

Both of their heads snapped to the entranceway as the door flew open.

"Tatenashi! Get my phone and call Miss Yamada! Quick! Tell her we need her here!" yelled McKenna as she and Maria brought a catatonic Josephine into the room.

* * *

Josephine was tucked into her bed with Maya sitting beside her, McKenna standing on the opposite side. Meanwhile, Maria paced back and forth across the living room while Tatenashi and Jennifer remained seated at the dining table.

"I'm sorry I can't be more help here. But what Miss Williams is going through isn't like what Miss Cross had to endure. They're very different responses triggered by very different things. I'm out of my depth here," explained Maya. "All we can do for the moment is keep the lights on, and hope she snaps out of it on her own."

"Fear of the dark is evolutionary for us. We fear the dark because we're vulnerable in it. It's when we can be attacked by predators we can't fight off because we can't see…" explained Maria.

"Yeah. I read that as well," added McKenna. "Which makes this all so much worse. Because what they did is reinforce her phobia. Whatever gains she made against it in her life, could pretty much have been entirely undone now."

"Yeah. And that pisses me off even more!"

"Do we have any idea who could have done this?" asked Maya.

"Safest bet is that Arad girl. Mayuzumi was feeding her dirt about all of us which she gained while she was in our confidence," explained Tatenashi. "She was the one who dumped the trash all over Maria. So it stands to reason that she was somehow involved in this."

"That's terrible… This is really going much too far now!"

"It hasn't gone nearly as far as it's going to go!" exclaimed McKenna. But before she could walk away, Josephine grabbed her by the wrist. "Josephine?"

The blonde pulled her friend down and whispered something to her.

"She's saying her watch is gone?" explained McKenna before it suddenly dawned on her. "Oh shit! Shit! Shit! That bitch took the Fury!"

" **WHAT?!"** exclaimed the entire room all at once.

"Her watch is the standby form of her I.S. unit…" explained McKenna.

"We know. Or at least. I knew. Gah! Doesn't matter! We need to get it back!" exclaimed Jennifer.

Maya stood up, "We need to report it right away. The theft of an I.S. unit is a very serious problem!"

"No fucking way you're reporting it! They'll shit can her for sure! If I lost the Meteor I'd be fucked for life! I don't think it's different for anyone else!" yelled Maria.

"We can't have an I.S. unit unaccounted for! This is serious!" exclaimed Maya.

"Miss Yamada! This is HER LIFE! Give us eight hours to get it back. If we can't before then, go ahead and report it. Can you do that much at least?" asked McKenna.

"What she said! We'll get it back," pleaded Maria. "I don't beg for shit! But I'll beg you for this if I have to!"

Maya shook her head. "You're all really putting me in a very bad position here… I could lose my job. You could all lose your status as well… But I'm sure I don't need to explain to any of you what's at stake. I'm sure you've all been given the same lectures I was given when I became a Contender."

McKenna nodded. "Yeah. We all know what we're asking for."

"What's the book Josie was reading on that first day? The Musketeers?" asked Maria.

"Yeah. All for one, and one for all. We're all in this together now. Josephine wouldn't back down for any of us. We won't back down for her."

"They're right…" added Jennifer. "Josephine's the most ambitious of us all. I couldn't just sit here and watch it all be taken from her just because Maria's a bitch and blew things way out of proportion."

"This isn't my fucking fault!"

 **"YES, IT IS! NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF NOT FOR-"**

" **HEY! Stop it now! Both of you!"** yelled Tatenashi with indignant fury. "We can assign blame later! Right now we have bigger problems. A war's been started, and I think everyone in this room has chosen a side. So let's act like it and start solving problems instead of making new ones!"

McKenna widened her eyes at the bluenette's sudden change in demeanor. Her features seemed to harden and take on a serious edge to them which sharply contrasted with her generally more playful eyes and body language.

The worst thing about it though, was that it was actually attractive.

She shook her head and eradicated that thought.

"We're all here for Josephine! So everyone get your shit together and set everything else aside. We don't have time for anything else! So let's focus and start getting shit done!"

"Jawohl mein führer!" exclaimed Maria. "So what's our first play?"

Tatenashi nodded, then looked directly into Maya's green eyes. "Miss Yamada. Will you be giving us the time we need? This is all kind of moot if you're not willing to stick your neck out for us."

Maya closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "I shouldn't. But I will. In your place, I'd do the same thing. So please don't make me regret it..."

"We won't!" exclaimed Tatenashi with finality on that topic. "Jennifer. You're on recon. Send your drone to the top floor, third room from the left and see what Arad is up to. If she's even there right now. I doubt it. But it's worth a shot. Meanwhile, I'm going to go to the security office and check the footage from the laundry room. Just to ensure we're after the right culprit…"

Tatenashi then glanced over at Maya, "And other things…" she added cryptically.

"They won't just let you walk in and watch those recordings!" protested Maya.

"Let me worry about that Miss Yamada. Please just stay with Josephine take care of her for us.""

"Hold on a minute! Who the hell put you in charge?" asked Jennifer.

Without answering the Australian she looked at McKenna, and then at Maria. "Kenny. Maria. You two need to _**DISCREETLY**_ go to Mayuzumi's room. Make her talk. Do whatever it takes. We don't have time to play nice. We need to know everything she knows, and we need to know it an hour ago!"

"With pleasure!" exclaimed a grinning Maria while cracking her knuckles.

"Yes. Exactly. With pleasure!" added McKenna.

"No seriously! Who the fuck put you in charge! I'm your senior damn it! Don't boss me around!"

"If you're not going to do what I asked. Just say so. We don't have time to squabble and nobody else is stepping up! Normally I'd say Josephine would be in charge. She's the brains behind this ad-hoc abomination of a team we've got here. But since she's down for the count, I'm stepping up. Good enough?"

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it. I just want a clear chain of command… And a clear chain of responsibility and accountability!"

"Either we fix this, or we're all cooked. Remember, there's no margin for error. Now get to work!" she commanded.

" _ **Yes ma'am!"**_ yelled Maria and McKenna.

"I'm going to regret this…" said Jennifer and Maya in unison.

* * *

Maria and McKenna walked down the stairs of the dorm building towards Mayuzumi's floor. Both were still in their 'house clothes' consisting of ragged oversized torn up t-shirt and hockey jersey. But Maria had put on the black and red sneakers Jennifer bought her, and McKenna wore her worn out converse.

"Is it bad that I'm so fucking turned on by Tatenashi right now? She was amazing!"

"Yes. It is bad! This isn't the time to perv out!" replied an angry Canadian.

"You might claim to be straight, but don't pretend you didn't get excited by it! I saw the look on your face when she shifted into that 'commander mode' of hers," said Maria as she stepped ahead to open the stairwell door for McKenna.

McKenna shook her head. "Can we focus on what we're going to do with Mayuzumi?"

"Relax. We got this. I figured we'd just make it up as we go along. Maybe a good cop bad cop routine?"

"It's going to be more of a bad cop-worse cop. You don't know how royally pissed off I am right now," she replied as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah. You're pissed off, but Mayuzumi is about to get pissed ON," exclaimed Maria before she started banging on the door. " **Kitty! You fucking skank! Open the door!"**

"So much for being discreet… You and Tatenashi are really cut from the same cloth," mumbled the brunette.

"Go away or I'll call security!" Mayuzumi yelled back through the door.

McKenna facepalmed, "Great Maria. Good job! Ten out of ten!"

"Yeah? Watch this," answered Maria while pulling out her crucifix.

"Asking God for back up?"

"Hehe! You're so funny! No, I made a deal with the Devil to get my own great powers... ACCESS," she said while a holographic light show projected from her cross over the door lock.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked McKenna.

"Just watch," answered Maria with a smugly satisfied smirk.

A moment later the door unlocked and she pushed it open, leaving Mayuzumi sandwiched between the door and the wall.

"Ahhhck!" cried out Mayuzumi.

"Hello Kitty!" exclaimed a happy Maria.

"Get off me bitch!" yelled Mayuzumi. The door smothered her against the wall and made it difficult to breathe. The handle dug into her hip and caused her a sharp shooting pain.

"Not until Kenny and I get done talking to you," she heard Maria say coldly from the other side of the door.

Mayuzumi tried to push herself free but couldn't move at all. "How the hell are you so strong?! You're tiny!"

"I'm strong to the finish, cuz I eats me spinach!" sang Maria.

McKenna leaned against the wall so she could see both Mayuzumi and Maria. "Actually Maria… Can we talk for a moment about what the actual fuck you just did with the door lock?"

"What about it? Electronic locks are even easier to pick than analog ones."

"No. They aren't. Two fifty-six bit encryption doesn't just get cracked in five seconds flat! Especially not by someone who can't even disable the fucking parental controls on the cable box!"

"Are you two really going to do this right now?" asked Mayuzumi.

"That's what I'm wondering. We're supposed to be giving _you_ the third degree!"

"You couldn't have stolen a master key… Miss Orimura would have found you out instantly. No. No! You fucking created one! And you used your I.S. to do it! Now it all makes fucking sense! That's what your unit's Image Interface System is! _**Electronic Warfare!**_ "

"Congratulations you figured it out! Can we get back to the matter at hand? Like getting Josie's I.S. back?"

Mayuzumi widened her eyes, her pain suddenly forgotten. "That's how you shut off the security system and set off the sprinklers! You bitch! You set me up and got me kicked out of the maintenance club!"

McKenna glared angrily at Maria, "And you fucking nagged me for an hour straight to disable the parental controls when you could have done it your damn self any time you wanted! The passcode was even the manufacturer's default… ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO!"

"Well, I didn't know that!"

"Exactly! You don't know anything! Yet you've been gifted what is probably the most powerful and devastating weapon system the 21st century has ever known!"

"I'm pretty sure your sonic cannon is more powerful… Except for hacking the audiovisual system to play music to make people dance to, the ACCESS system is useless in arena combat."

"Hand Sonic can make people's ears bleed sure. But you could hack ATM machines and get all the cash you want! Why the hell are you always broke?!"

"Because I'm not a thief, and people would ask too many questions if my wallet was always full."

"How do you have so much music in your I.S. then?!"

"The Pirate Bay!"

"You just said you're not a thief!"

"No. **I'm a PIRATE! YAAAARRR!** "

" **STOP IGNORING ME!"** yelled Mayuzumi.

"Then tell us what the fuck happened to Josephine!" yelled McKenna into Mayuzumi's ear.

Maria looked to her left and saw some other girls gathering to see what the commotion was all about. **"Someone just attacked our roommate in the worst possible way! Anyone who doesn't get the fuck out of my sight is gonna be the next suspect we interrogate!"**

It didn't take long for the hallway to clear after that statement.

"Heh. Without Daniella, they're all spineless!"

"What happened to Williams?!" asked Mayuzumi.

"Like you don't know!" yelled Maria as she shoved the door into the Japanese girl even harder, causing her to scream in pain.

McKenna leaned in to be close to her ear, "You knew she was scared of the fucking dark! Because I made the mistake of trusting you! Now I'm correcting that mistake! Someone trapped her in the laundry room, shut off the lights, and stole her I.S. frame! So you'd better fucking start spilling everything you know!"

"I swear I had no idea Arad would do anything like that!"

"You told her Josie was scared of the dark, what the actual fuck did you think she would do with that information?!" yelled McKenna.

"I'll explain everything! Could you please just get off me?! This really hurts!" yelled Mayuzumi.

McKenna looked at Maria and slowly nodded. Maria then quickly stepped back and slammed the door shut, letting Mayuzumi fall to the floor and clutch her hip where the door handle had been pressed into her.

Maria scowled down at the Japanese girl. "We're waiting…"

"Fuck you… That really hurt!" exclaimed Mayuzumi with tears in her eyes.

"If Josephine could talk right now. She'd probably have something to say about how much what was done to her sucked too," remarked McKenna.

"Arad really stole her I.S.?"

Maria nodded, "She did. So come on. Spill it!"

"I didn't want to be involved in any of this…" she said softly and then looked up at McKenna with her wet eyes. "Arad turned the class on me. She manipulated everything. They made me go talk to you. Make friends with you…"

McKenna balled up a fist and clenched her teeth tightly.

"I didn't want to hurt you. After I talked to you. I did really want to be your friend. But I also wanted you not to be involved with Cross and Williams because of how toxic they were…"

Maria crossed her arms and huffed in annoyance.

"Then Arad came to me and wanted to know what I'd found out about all of you. But I didn't want to tell her anything. I didn't want to be involved anymore. But she started yelling in public about how I had sexually harassed her. Then she told me she would tell everyone that I'd done things to her if I didn't help her…"

McKenna knelt down with a sour expression as she gazed into the bespectacled girl's wet eyes. "So I'm guessing that's when you started telling her how to hurt us. You told her about Maria and Josephine's phobias…"

"Yes…"

"So the only reason nothing's happened to me is that you had nothing on me?"

"I told her about your boyfriend. But I guess she thought it was useless."

"Yeah. Her boyfriend is pretty useless," remarked Maria.

McKenna glared at the American who simply shrugged.

The Canadian then knelt down to glare into Mayuzumi's eyes, "Moving on… What did Arad say she wanted with Josie's I.S.? She can't use it without scrubbing its user data. No way she can do that on her own. And even if she did, I don't believe for a moment she's got the chutzpah to actually use it in school, in front of everyone. So what's she thinking?"

"I don't know… All she said was that she wanted to get rid of all of you because Representative Contenders and Cadets are the problems with the system. Or something like that."

"She's got ambition. I'll give her that," remarked Maria.

"She does at that. So any idea where she might be now?"

"None… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I betrayed you, Tremblay… I didn't want to!"

"If you didn't want to. You wouldn't have!"

"I had no choice!"

" **YES YOU DID!"** snapped McKenna. "Josephine's catatonic because you were afraid of someone spreading rumors about you!"

"You don't know how bad that would-"

"I don't care! Say what you want about Josephine and Maria, they'd never stab me in the back! They'd never stab anyone in the back!"

Maria nodded with a big grin and a thumbs up, "Yeah! Friends stab you in the front!"

McKenna turned to glare at Maria sideways.

"I can't get kicked out of school… If I lost this opportunity my family would disown me. You don't understand how strict my parents are."

Maria glared dangerously down on the pinkette, "Oh cut the sob story! 'Boo-hoo my parents would disown me' Fuck you! **Fuck you a lot!** Fucking spineless cunt! You got three years of BOARDING SCHOOL and then you're on your own! Who gives a fuck about your parents?! You could have done what your heart told you to do, but no, you're weak! You're so fucking weak you got made into her bitch! Fucking loser!"

"Maria! Take a breath, calm down, and save it for Arad," she said before turning back to Mayuzumi.

Mayuzumi ignored Maria and focused on McKenna. "I don't want you to forgive me. I just want you to know I'm sorry and that... I really did want to be your friend."

McKenna glared at Mayuzumi and sighed. "I'm considering giving you a second chance. But I'm still not sure if you deserve it or not."

"Giving someone a second chance is like giving them a second bullet after they missed you with their first," remarked Maria.

McKenna groaned in irritation, "I hate to agree with her on anything, but she's got a point. Why should I trust you now?"

"You don't have to. Let me earn it. Please let me help make this right."

"Bitch! Do you see my hair! You threw garbage all over me!"

"Arad made me do that. She was here in my dorm room, and she forced me to do it… No! Wait! Fuck you! I'm not sorry about that! You deserved it! You peeked up my skirt, you framed me for the sprinkler thing, and you glued my shoes to my locker!"

"Not my fault you're dumb. If you thought those were bad, just wait and see what happens to you for the garbage thing!"

"Shinjimae!"

"Achievement unlocked: Spinal Regrowth!" exclaimed McKenna.

Maria nodded, "Doesn't that feel better than just sitting down and taking it?"

Mayuzumi looked up in bewilderment before drying her tears with her hands, "It does…"

McKenna extended a hand down to Mayuzumi. "I decided I'm keeping you." her eyes flashed with a hint of maliciousness which Mayuzumi would have expected from the American, never from McKenna. "Your soul is mine now," she added with a playful tone which didn't match her facial expression.

"Thank you…" Mayuzumi said softly while reaching out to take the brunette's hand, who then pulled her up to her feet.

"But you will have to answer for what you did to Maria," she said sternly. "Then you two can go back to hating each other on a more even playing field."

"What?!"

Maria cracked her knuckles. "Kenny. Remind me to tell you later how much I love you!"

"So. Mission accomplished. Think you can contact Arad and find out where she is now?" asked McKenna.

Mayuzumi shook her head. "Whenever she wanted something, she came to me. If she's not in her room, I don't know where she would be."

"You must have something on her? Anything at all? Or did you only gather dirt on us?"

Mayuzumi shook her head, "Sorry…"

"Don't waste your time. The Kike's all done with her."

"She said she wanted to get rid of all of us. So what would be her next move?"

"She doesn't have to do shit now. You think after winning the lottery with Josie's IS she's going to take her winnings back to the casino? Hell no. She's gonna go cash out. Question is where?"

"Let's hope Jennifer and Tatenashi found the answer to that…"

* * *

Back in room 1042, Maya was helping Josephine change her beddings. They removed the sheets, duvet, coverings, everything. Then stuffed it all into a black garbage bag which Josephine then took from Maya and put out on the balcony.

"Thank you… You didn't have to do all this. I'll get the sheets sorted sometime tomorrow. For now, I just don't feel ready to go to the laundry room again."

"I told you I don't mind taking it down and washing it for you."

"I couldn't allow you to do that for me, Miss Yamada. Though I appreciate the offer," she answered while going into the bathroom. Maya walking behind her.

"I understand, and again, I'm so, SO sorry about all of this, Miss Williams."

"Call me Josephine. When you consider all we've been through in the short time we've known you, I believe formality is little redundant. So far I've seen you naked, and you've seen me piss and soil myself… And you helped me clean up after myself..." she said while retrieving some cleaning supplies.

Maya sighed and shook her head at the absurdity of that statement. "Then I suppose it's alright for you to call me Maya then. Just as long as you don't do it in class."

"Good. May I also ask that we never speak of this again?" she said while walking back over to her bed. There she sprayed the mattress and started rubbing it in with a brush.

Maya nodded, "I was just about to ask you for the same… But I'm so sorry I turned out that light… I thought it was disturbing you… My mind was running in circles and I wasn't thinking at all!"

"I thought we just agreed to not speak of it?"

"Yes… I just needed to say sorry… I'm so sorry."

"You didn't do it with malice. So why apologize so much?"

"It's a culture thing. You need to live it to understand it."

"Well, in any case, I forgive you. Can we not speak of it now?"

"Yes. Sorry."

"There you go again."

"Sor- Heh. I guess I do apologize too much."

Josephine smiled while she finished up with the mattress, she then walked to the kitchen where she left the brush in the sink, and then went to put the cleaning chemical away and then started washing her hands.

"Maya? May I ask you a serious question?"

"I can't promise I'll answer. But sure!" exclaimed a suddenly bubbly Maya.

"Why are you helping us? Helping me? Why would you risk your job to let them try to sort this on their own?"

Maya put a hand to her chin and took a long moment to contemplate it while Josephine dried off her hands.

"Well. I never had my I.S. stolen from me. But I can imagine what it must feel like, and I know what's on the line for you if anyone ever found out about this… I also know what it feels like to be a Representative Contender and be isolated from your peers because of it. Sure. Some get lucky and end up in classes where their peers idolize them. But most of the time… It's just a lot of resentment."

"Why does it have to be this way? Try as I might. I just can't understand it," she said while walking back out of the bathroom and into the living room. "May I offer you a drink?"

"Oh. No thank you."

"Then take a seat with me?"

Maya nodded, "Sure. Now back to your question. Have you ever looked at someone driving a fancy car? What do you feel when you see that?"

"Pity…"

"Pity?"

"Yes. I pity them. I pity them because I know that for the price of that expensive Rolls Royce, they could still have a nice car, and put the excess into their community. Say they put three hundred thousand pounds into a homeless shelter. They'll never have to turn anyone away. They could feed the refugees of the Sahara War for months… They could fund cancer research. There's so much good that can be done with that kind of money. But when I see someone waste those possibilities on a fancy car or an oil painting of their favorite selfie… I feel pity. Even disgust. I'd dare say it borders on hatred."

"To someone like Arad, your I.S. is your Rolls Royce. It sets you above your peers. It gets you special privileges and attention that they'll never get. But those feelings you described, pity, disgust, envy-"

"I never envy anyone with money!"

"I don't think that's true Josephine. If you've ever imagined yourself in their position, doing the things you just described with the money instead. That is envy. You envy them because they can do the things you can't. You feel anger at them because they don't. It's the same thing when a regular student looks at a Representative Contender."

Josephine slowly nodded her head. "You make a compelling case. So compelling that I am now compelled to rethink the matter entirely."

Maya reached out and put a hand on her student's shoulder. "Every coin has two sides though. While someone in your position has privileges, they also have responsibilities. Immense responsibilities. Even by the time they graduate, they'll never truly appreciate how much time and training it takes to handle a personal I.S. at its limits. They'll never understand how much we've sacrificed for the opportunity, and they'll never know how much we treasure the rewards we reap from all that hard work. And they'll never know what it feels like when it's time to part with our precious mechanical partners."

"You do realize that some, or I'd even dare say most people with money, _**inherit**_ their money? They don't actually work for it. They just spend it."

"Has anyone inherited a personal I.S.?"

"Not that I know of…"

"Then there's the difference. To them, it's something you've been handed. They've never gone through the pre-training programs. They can read about it, yes, but they can't appreciate how difficult it actually is without enduring it themselves. You can't make them understand it. It can only be understood by those who live it. Who feel the pressure, who feel the competition chasing after them, hoping and praying for us to make a mistake so they can swoop in and take our place."

"That's true… So what should I do about it?"

"There's nothing you can do except what you've been doing. Stay true to yourself. Be better today than you were yesterday. Be better tomorrow than you were today. As long as you can do that, you're still in the fight."

Josephine couldn't help but smile. "I think I see why Maria looks up to you so much now."

Maya shook her head and giggled, "Oh goodness no. She only likes me for my fighting prowess and my breasts."

Josephine giggled as well. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but she's not into large breasts. She says she likes you because of your glasses. She finds them cute."

Maya's giggle turned into a laugh, "Well that's a first!"

Josephine smiled and sat back in her seat. "Hopefully it won't be the last. You're a good person Maya. I'm glad to know you. I just learned something very valuable from you that's going to make me rethink a lot of my preconceptions."

Maya smiled brightly at the blonde, "I'm just glad I finally found something I could teach you. It means there's hope for me as an instructor. Assuming I don't get fired by the end of this."

"For what it's worth. I have faith in them."

"I hope your faith is well placed. For both our sakes."

"If in the off chance they do fail… You're welcome to sleep on my couch."

"If they fail… I might have to. I don't have any savings. I blew it all on a big world tour after I graduated."

"That sounds amazing! Tell me all about it! Where did you go? What did you do? What did you see?"

Maya smiled and started telling stories of her recent travels which Josephine listened to with wide-eyed wonder.

* * *

 **Later that evening…**

"So that's what happened… I've let you down. I've let everyone down."

" _It's going to be alright love. Whatever happens, we'll support you."_ said her mother.

"You haven't let anyone down…" said Maria while bringing out her double bass onto the balcony.

"She's right for once. We've got your back," added McKenna while stepping out as well.

"When did you two get back?"

"Right about the time you started telling them about Tatenashi…" replied McKenna. "I'm sure your parents must be thrilled that you have such an eccentric friend. I know mine already hate her. To say nothing of Maria."

Maria sat herself up on the balcony railing and suddenly started talking loudly into Josephine's phone, "Hi mom and dad! Don't worry about Josie, we're gonna take good care of her and pay that 'slag' back with interest!"

"My mum says she'll be holding you to that," replied Josephine with a small, but growing smile as she wiped away her tears.

"Good!" exclaimed Maria while she leaned down and used her bass for support while she started playing it.

" _When the night… has come."_

" _And the land is dark."_ sang McKenna.

Josephine cracked ber brightest smile of the night, and possibly brightest smile either of her roommates had ever seen. " _And the moon, is the only, light we'll see..."_

Josephine's parents quickly realized that their daughter had forgotten to hang up the call and simply sat together and listened to them singing.

Then they all started to sing together in something resembling harmony, " _No I won't. Be afraid. Ohhh I won't, be afraid. Just as long, as you stand, stand by me."_

Maria got out the bow from its holder on the front of her bass and started moving it across the strings. While they all sang the chorus together.

" _So darlin' darlin' stand, by me, ohhhh stand, by me, oh stand, stand by me. Stand by me."_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten  
** " **The end of the beginning"**

McKenna, Tatenashi, and Jennifer popped the tops of the energy drinks the blonde had distributed to them and chugged them down as they looked out towards the mainland from the edge of the island.

Maria sat with her feet dangling off the edge of a cliff with Tatenashi, McKenna, and Jennifer standing a few feet behind her.

"Sure you don't want one?" asked Jennifer while holding out her last can to Maria.

The little American shook her head. "No thanks. Energy drinks screw me up," she said while leaning back and resting on her hands.

"You're already screwed up! Are you also diabetic or something?"

"Not exactly…" she replied with eyes narrowed on the distance. "Are you sure she got on the monorail?"

"Yes. Tatenashi and I spotted her, but by the time we got there, the train had left. Question now is, how can we intercept her without getting caught?"

"Here's another question. Students aren't allowed off the island during the week. The Monorail is only for the faculty and other staff to get on and off the island during the day. So how did she get aboard without being stopped?" wondered Tatenashi.

"Shouldn't we be more concerned with where she's going and how to get there first?" asked Jennifer.

The Japanese girl shook her head, "It's pointless if they won't let us off the island. I mean, we could technically get around this problem if we fly there, but the academy is highly secured. They'll detect us if we start flying around unauthorized."

McKenna stared at Maria.

"Do I have something on my face?" asked Maria with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Your nose. But you have a solution to the problem Tatenashi just described."

"If I did. Don't you think I would have used it for myself that one time?"

"Did you know it existed before then?"

"No…"

"Well now you do. Can you do anything about it?"

"What are you two talking about?!" asked Jennifer while Tatenashi stared curiously.

"Well… Cat's out of the bag now, so I may as well give it a shot, but all of you keep this on the downlow. I don't want the extent of my powers being more widely known than they need to be," she said while pulling her cross out from under her black hoodie which then began emitting holographic screens and keyboards in front of her.

Jennifer looked bewilderedly at the ravenette. "What's she doing?!"

"Her unit's image interface technology is designed for electronic and cyber warfare."

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Who thought it was a good idea to incorporate something like that in an I.S. frame designed for arena combat?!" asked Jennifer.

"Who said it was designed for use in the arena?" Maria replied nonchalantly.

McKenna and Tatenashi both somehow sensed it a moment before it happened and reacted as soon as Jennifer dropped her can. The Australian lunged towards Maria but before she got anywhere near the little American, both of her arms were taken by the two girls working in perfect sync.

"Let me go! It makes sense now! She hacked my sister's I.S.! She made her crash! She tried to kill her! I'll rip her apart!"

"Hacking an I.S. core is impossible," said Maria with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Fuck you! You're a liar! I'll rip your heart out and eat it!"

"You'll have to go hungry, babe. I don't have a heart."

" **FUCK YOU!"**

" **JENNY! CALM THE FUCK DOWN, EH?!"** screamed McKenna.

"Yeah. Remember what we're here for. Let's just focus on what we can actually save, yeah?" added Tatenashi.

McKenna nodded, "Stuff like Josie's future. Miss Yamada's job. Our asses?"

"If we're all ready to focus on the task at hand?" said Maria in a forceful tone. "The island is secured by various monitoring systems, visual and radar. If we fly low along a certain path we can evade most of the cameras, and the ones we can't I'm going to jam with loop footage as we approach. Hopefully I won't screw it up."

"Hopefully?!" the two girls restraining the third said in unison.

"Hey! I've never done this for real before! Cut me some slack!"

Jennifer shrugged off the pair restraining her and adjusted her uniform. While she seemed to have calmed down for the moment, McKenna and Tatenashi could both still feel the heat of the anger coming off of her.

"So if you can't hack an I.S., what can you do?" asked the irate Australian.

"I can mess with any electronic systems. Well, anything I can actually make a connection with. Radar, radio, computers, phones, you name it. The system is called ACCESS. Active Command and Control of the Electronic Spectrum for the purpose of Subversion."

"How will you mess up the radar?" asked McKenna while the others listened curiously.

"That's complicated. You can't just shut down the radar system without drawing a lot of attention. The short of it is that we're going to have to fly in a very tight formation so I can use electronic counter measures to alter their readings. I can't completely block us out, but if we maintain a reasonable altitude, speed, and direction, I can make us look like a boat."

McKenna let out a relieved sigh, "That's good, and it makes sense. Just hurry it up because we need to get across the cove before the monorail arrives."

"Cove? Bitch, that's a bay!" exclaimed Maria.

"Seriously? That is the most pedantic thing I've ever heard!"

"Pedantic? What the fuck does that mean?" asked Maria while typing.

McKenna stomped over and kicked her in the butt before stepping away from the cliff's edge again.

"OWW! What the fuck?! Between you and Josie I'm gonna get bruises all over!"

"That was _for_ Josephine. She'd probably go ape shit if you asked that question infront of her. American education is a fucking joke if you seriously had to ask that!"

"Umm. So what even is the difference between a bay and a cove?" asked Tatenashi.

"See! Because English isn't her first language, she can ask a question like that with impunity!"

"Bitch! You called _**that**_ a **COVE**!" yelled Maria while pointing at the bay.

"They're the same thing, but a bay is big and a cove is small. I'll show you a cove sometime here on the island, it's a great spot I use to relax and vegetate when the weather is good enough for it," said Jennifer, completely ignoring the American and Canadian's argument.

Maria continued typing on her display while she started singing " _Sittin' in the mornin' sun. I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes. Watchin' the ships roll in. Then I watch 'em roll away again!"_

"Maria! Focus! This isn't the time!" yelled McKenna.

"Singing helps me concentrate…"

"Sing all you want! It makes this feel more epic if we have a singing dwarf in the group! It's like the Lord of the Rings. Except we're the Fellowship of the Wrist Watch!"

Maria turned around with a devious grin on her face, "You're not exactly blessed with verticality yourself, _Blue!_ "

"Blue?"

"Your hair is blue. Henceforth you shall be known as Blue! Tatenashi the Blue. Like Gandalf the Gray!"

"Achievement Unlocked: Stupid Nickname from Maria…" said Jennifer with a certain amount of satisfaction in her voice.

"Yay! _I'm Blue da ba dee da,_ " started Tatenashi.

" _ba dye, da ba dee da, ba dye da ba dee da ba dye, da ba dee da ba dye, da ba dee da ba dye, da ba dee da ba dye!"_ sang Maria and Tatenashi together loudly and proudly to the chagrin of those around them.

Jennifer facepalmed, "She's actually happy about it… Unbelievable!"

McKenna stomped her foot and raised her voice to it limit, " **HEY! Focus!"**

"Eeeeesh! Ruin the fun why don't you? Whatever. I'm done. I'm uploading flight path data to both of you now. Let's just head down to the beach to launch because, you know, boats don't change altitude."

"Yeah… Good thinking," said McKenna with relief. "Good thing you're not totally stupid."

"Thanks, I think? Anyway. Just stay in close formation and don't deviate at all or the jig is up! Also it should go without saying that you need to turn off your transponders."

"What about Tatenashi? She doesn't have an I.S.?" asked Jennifer.

"Kenny can carry me! Bridal style!"

"Like hell!"

* * *

" _Row row row your boat gently down the stream…"_ merrily sang Tatenashi from McKenna's arms as they moved across the bay.

" _Merrily merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream!"_ sang Maria and Tatenashi.

"Would you please stop singing that annoying song? I'm going to get it stuck in my head!" complained Jennifer.

Maria grinned devilishly before she started again with Tatenashi quickly joining in.

McKenna's face turned red as her mechanical arms started squeezing Tatenashi uncomfortably tight. " _ **SHUT UP WITH THAT STUPID SONG! YOU'VE BEEN SINGING IT FOR TEN MINUTES!"**_

"Kenny! Kenny! You're crushing me!" Tatenashi said in a small squeaky voice.

The pony-tailed girl knew she was exaggerating her plight and ignored her. "How the hell do you even know that stupid song anyway? I didn't know that was a campfire song in Japan."

"Heard it in a few movies. It's catchy!"

"Whatever… Hey, Maria! Do we have to go so damn slow?!"

"If we go too fast, we risk sticking out. Remember we're supposed to be a BOAT," explained Jennifer.

"There are plenty of boats faster than this!" complained McKenna. "If we're too slow that bitch is going to get away from us!"

"Relax. I'm tracking the monorail. It's a quarter of the way across. It has a longer trip than we do because of how deep most of the water is. It has to stick to the shallow ends and we don't. If we maintain this speed and course, we'll get there long before her. Have faith!" answered Maria.

"Yeah, Kenny! Just relax. Everything will work out just fine," said Tatenashi as she snuggled up against the Canadian.

"Tatenashi! Stop rubbing up on my boobs!"

"But they're so firm and comfy! And your chest guard is so soft! Must be nice to have the jiggle cushioned like that!"

"It is! But instead of feeling me up, why don't you try telling me what we're going to do when we actually catch up to that bitch? I mean, I know what I'd _**like**_ to do, but not what we _**should**_ do."

"I honestly don't know yet. I'm still trying to figure out what her plan could be. What does she hope to achieve? It's not like you can just walk into a pawn shop and sell an Infinite Stratos."

"If we get there before she can get away, we can ask her after we get the Fury back," added Jennifer.

"That's true. But it's still bugging me…" replied Tatenashi.

"Oh shit! NO! NO! NO!" exclaimed Maria.

Jennifer widened her eyes, "What the hell?! What happened?!"

"There's a U.S. Warship entering the bay. My I.F.F. just got pinged!"

"Weren't _**YOU**_ the one who told us to turn off our transponders?!" yelled McKenna. "How could you forget your own?!"

"I didn't! Since N.A.T.O. fell apart after the E.U. army became a thing, the U.S. military uses a new transponder system. It's complicated. To keep it simple, even if its shut off, if the device gets pinged, the source will still receive a friendly I.F.F. code. Lets friendlies know we're around without us giving away our positions, that way we theoretically don't get blown up by our own missiles."

"How the hell does that work?! And why can't you turn it off?!"

"Does that really matter right now?"

"So what the fuck do we do?!"

"Umm… We hide until they pass!"

"What the actual fuck are they even doing here?! I thought Japan threw them out!"

"We did! Ten years ago after the Shirokishi incident. Whatever was left of them anyway. What kind of ship is it? Can you tell?" interjected Tatenashi.

"It's a Ticonderoga class cruiser. I don't know what they're doing here and I'm not going to stop and ask them. Let's just vanish before they get close enough for a visual ID on all of you. Bad enough they know I'm out here now."

"Where do we hide? We can't exactly go underwater!" yelled Tatenashi.

"Ummm… How about there? That big ass mega yacht?" suggested Maria.

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. "That's a terrible idea! I don't think they'll be very happy with us for stowing away on their party boat!"

Tatenashi tightened her grip around McKenna's neck and shoulders, "Got a better idea? If so, we're open to it. If not, then let's go for it! Even if we get caught, what're a bunch of crazy-rich Asians going to do to the three of you? Kenny could sink that whole boat with one shot of those... _big... giant... throbbing_ -"

" **TATENASHI!"**

"Mortar launchers?"

"Don't you dare lewd my I.S. you _sick twisted_ _**freak!**_ "

* * *

After finding a spot on the mega yacht where nobody seemed to be wandering, the three made a subtle landing by deactivating their units and falling down onto the lowest deck of the yacht where they ducked down low to watch the warship passing them by.

"Never seen one of these in real life…" remarked McKenna as she took in the details of the missile cruiser before her. "That's so cool…"

Tatenashi tapped the Canadian's shoulder, "Uhhh… Kenny?"

"I know, I know… But can I just have a moment to look at this? I'm a World of Warships and Azur Lane fanatic! This is like porn to me!"

"Kenny. I really think you need to turn around."

McKenna stood up and turned to look at the Japanese girl, "Damn it Tatenashi! I'm so going to catch you watching porn and- Oh. Shit."

McKenna looked around and noted that the four of them were presently surrounded by men in dark suits with various pistols pointed at them. She turned to see Maria and Jennifer with hard looks in their eyes. Jennifer out of sheer defiance, but there was something off about Maria's expression. Like this wasn't the first time she'd had guns pointed at her. Why didn't that surprise her?

"If we get out of this, I'm going to find you the best porn. I know for a fact that there's excellent quality warship waifu hentai out there for you..."

McKenna jaw dropped at Tatenashi, "Seriously?! Those could be your last words and you made a Rule Thirty-four joke?!"

"Watashitachi to issho ni kuru!" yelled one of the armed men.

Tatenashi looked up at the men with the guns. "Jenny? Think you can deploy and cover us?" she asked.

Jennifer shook her head. "My shield is too big for this tight space."

"They want us to follow them…" explained Tatenashi.

"We can't fight our way out of this. We should just do what they say for now and seize the opportunity when it comes," said an icy Maria.

"You mean _**IF**_ it comes! What the hell did you get us into, Maria?! I'm going to kick your ass so badly you won't be able to sit down for the rest of your miserable life!" yelled Jennifer.

"That probably won't be very long if you don't shut the fuck up, Tazzy…"

"I'll be fine with that as long as they kill you first!"

* * *

The four girls were lead into a large room inside the yacht where groups of well dressed men and women were mingling and drinking cocktails. Tatenashi looked around and took careful note of what she saw.

"Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Latin Americans, not sure who else. I think we just stumbled into a mafia get together."

"Eeeyup…" replied Maria.

A moment later a man walked up to them and looked them over carefully, assessing them.

"They sent I.S. pilots?" he asked in Japanese. "No…" his eyes lingered on Tatenashi's uniform. "They're just students. What are you doing here?"

"I'm taking my friends out for some karaoke," replied Tatenashi in Japanese.

Jennifer covered her mouth to stop the giggles from escaping.

The Japanese man ignore the blonde girl and focused on Tatenashi. "Who do you think you are? When I ask a question I want an answer. What's your name?"

"Sarashki Tatenashi," she said with a polite bow to the man.

The man narrowed his eyes, "Your Tatenashi?"

"Hai."

"I know your father. He's a great man. He'd be disappointed if he saw you making a fool of yourself, as you have thus far."

"Arigatou gozaimasu."

"Take Sarashki-san to a guest cabin. Get rid of the others," he said to a man behind him.

Jennifer held out her left hand and deployed the arm of her Infinite Stratos with the giant shield to protect her friends. Maria deployed the left arm of her own along with her beam rifle and stood back to back with Jennifer while McKenna deployed her own right arm with the sonic weapon deployed and ready.

Simultaneously the room around them drew assault rifles, pistols, and everything in between to point at the girls.

"Is it bad that I'm getting turned on by this?" asked Maria.

"Yes! You disgusting freak!" exclaimed Jennifer while holding up her right arm to deploy her other I.S. arm and beam rifle.

"Way to go, Tatenashi…" muttered McKenna. "I'll use the sonic cannon on a high setting."

"Shall I cover my ears?"

"It won't help. Hey! Window lickers! Don't any of you know those guns won't make any difference here? Anything less than a fifty calibre won't even dent her physical shield and you'll need about a hundred more guns if you hope to even take a point off our absolute defense!"

"Yeah! And one blast from this beam rifle and you'll all be cremated!" yelled Maria.

"Fuck you!" yelled a Russian man.

"Fuck _**you**_!" yelled Maria.

"They're not going to back down. I'll put them down with Hand Sonic. Get ready to make an exit," ordered McKenna.

" **Che cazzo?!"** exclaimed a man as he walked up the stairs to the left of the group. All eyes quickly turned to him. He was sharply dressed in a black evening suit with a white shirt and a black tie, holding large trays full of various food items in both of his hands.

"Lorenzo?!" asked Maria with wide eyes.

"Maria? What are you doing here?"

"Holy shit…" said McKenna. "He really is a mafioso…" said an exasperated McKenna.

"No, Miss Canada. I'm just here to do the catering," he said while moving to set his tray down on the buffet table. "Everyone lower your guns!"

"Stay out of this waiter! Or we shoot you too!" exclaimed the Russian man.

Another man reached out and grabbed the barrel of his pistol to put his gun down for him. "Shut up you idiot! You'll get us all killed!"

"The girls with I.S. units, you point your gun, but for the caterer you shit your pants?!"

"If you knew who he was, you would too! Everyone lower your guns!"

Lorenzo walked up to Maria, "What are you doing here?"

"Bianchi-san, do you know these girls?" asked the Yakuza boss in a very unnervingly calm tone of voice, especially compared to the rest of the room. With a quick wave of the hand to his own men, they quickly put away their guns.

"Yes. This one works for me," he said while gesturing at Maria. "Those are her friends from school. I told you earlier I had a waitress who was a student in the I.S. Academy."

"Bianchi-san. Nobody here wants trouble tonight. Will you vouch for these girls?" asked the Yakuza boss.

"Yes I will."

"Then that's fine. They can stay. Provided she tells me why they're really here," said the Japanese man while looking at Tatenashi.

"It's a long story. The short version is that an I.S. unit was stolen from our friend and we're on our way to catch the thief before the school finds out about the theft and our friend gets kicked out. Right now only one of our teachers knows and we need it to stay that way. We only have until morning to get it done," explained Tatenashi.

"But why did you come to this boat?"

"To hide from that warship. They already know I'm here because my transponder got pinged, but they don't know about them, and I want it to stay that way," explained Maria.

"Hmm… Sounds like you're in quite a lot of trouble. And you need to get across the bay undetected?" remarked Lorenzo.

"We could have made it if not for that warship," replied Maria.

Lorenzo turned to the Yakuza boss, "You should just let them be on their way. They won't say anything about this. For their own sakes, they won't want the wrong people to know about the theft. So there's no danger of them revealing what they've seen here."

"Yeah. What he said! And maybe you can help us out?" asked Tatenashi. "We just need a ride to get to the other side and we can take it from there."

"Why would we do that?" asked the Yakuza boss in Japanese.

"Because if you do, I'll owe you a favor. Trust me, there's a lot I could do for you to pay this back," said Tatenashi in Japanese. "You said you know my father, so then you should know what I'm capable of."

Lorenzo stepped up to Tatenashi and put a hand over her mouth. "If you're so 'capable' then why don't you know when to keep your mouth closed?"

The man narrowed his eyes at her, "Do you always get what you want? Sarashki-san?"

Tatenashi pulled her face away from Lorenzo's hand, "Most of the time."

"Very good... _So do I_."

* * *

McKenna took a big gulp from a glass of champagne and cringed from the taste. It was bitter, and sparkly, and nasty. She'd never understand why humanity selected the sour bubbly beverage as the traditional drink for celebrations.

As she glanced around at the party which had resumed after their interruption, she remembered why she needed something, _anything_ , to drink. She felt so incredibly out of place here in every single which way.

She was standing around in her black and yellow piloting suit with matching black and yellow sneakers. Contrasted by the other women in the room who all had the bodies of supermodels, dressed up in beautifully elegant cocktail dresses. Something told her they weren't wives or girlfriends. Some might have been, some could have been mistresses, but _most_ of them were _clearly_ hired for the evening.

Jennifer was standing beside her in a burgundy colored suit with dark gray lines, and Maria was wandering somewhere but looked completely comfortable in her black and red colored piloting suit. If all of that wasn't bad enough, she could feel the eyes of some of the goons standing in the corners of the room on her and Jennifer, and they weren't looking because they knew they were a threat with their personal I.S. units.

"Don't look so stern, Jenny. Try to relax. I thought you of all people would be enjoying this?" remarked Tatenashi as she appeared in front of them with a plate of food and a glass of cola.

"What the hell would give you that impression?" she asked through clenched teeth to force herself to keep the volume of her angry voice down.

"You're an adrenaline junkie, a thrill seeker. Isn't this a thrill?"

"This isn't like swimming with sharks or climbing buildings, cranes, bridges, or-"

"We're on a boat with the mafia. You're literally swimming with sharks…" said McKenna.

"Speaking of which… Mind telling me why they all backed down?" asked Jennifer while leveling a stern glare at Tatenashi. "Not that I'm not thankful to still be alive. But if they had called our bluff..."

"I'm just charming!" said Tatenashi with a big stupid smile.

"That man said he knew your father. Are you a Yakuza heiress or something?"

Tatenashi opened her eyes wide in surprise. "You speak Japanese?"

"This is my second year in this country. What do you think?"

"So you speak Japanese, and Mandarin? That's seriously impressive. They aren't easy languages even for native speakers."

"Answer the question, Tatenashi. Bad enough we're in this situation. I wanna know who I just got mixed up with!"

"I'm curious too now…" remarked McKenna while sternly glaring at Tatenashi.

"Well… We're not Yakuza or anything like that. But the Sarashiki family does command a lot of respect at all levels of certain segments of society."

"Why is that?"

"Jennifer. With respect. This isn't the place for that kind of conversation…"

"Fine. But this conversation is only on hold. It isn't over!"

Meanwhile, Maria and Lorenzo each carried a tray towards the buffet table. Maria holding a tray with clean glasses and Lorenzo holding a larger tray with various finger foods.

"Grazie, Maria," he said to her.

"Di niente."

"I'll add some extra to your next salary for this," he said to her in Italian.

"No need. You gave me food when I was hungry. You gave me a job when I needed it. I'm just repaying the debt."

"There is no debt to repay. When I do good for people, I want them to pay it forward, not backward. Capiche?"

"Ci, capiche."

"Now you probably want to know why I'm here and why-"

"You're just catering right?"

"Ci. I'm catering. But before I-"

"Lorenzo. Non me ne fotte un cazzo."

"Haha. Where did you learn to curse in Italian like that?"

"Italian movies."

"Lorenzo! Who is this little chiquita with the big animal hair?" asked a hispanic man as he stepped up to the buffet.

"This is Maria. She works for me in my restaurant. She's also a kid, so keep your zipper up, you sick fucking crazy man!"

"Relax Lorenzo. I'm not like those loco Chinamen. I was just curious. Why would you put your balls on the chopping block for a bunch of little girls?" he leaned in closer to Lorenzo, "Even an ugly one like her," he added in Spanish.

Maria stopped stacking clean glasses to regard the big man with a furious scowl. "Que te folle un pez!"

The man turned a pair of furious bulging eyes on the little ravenette, "Estás loca?!"

"Sí, estoy muy loca! Eres tan patético, que resutas entrañable!" she yelled back.

"Maria! Are you stupid? Do you know who is this man?" yelled an incredulous Lorenzo.

The angry look in the man's eyes vanished as his face took on a more amused expression, "Haha! Señorita, su español es fabulosa. Donde aprendiste?"

"Dora la Exploradora," replied Maria in a serious and matter of fact tone.

"Pffft! Hahahaha! Loca chica Americana! Me gustas! My name is-"

"You're Emmanuel Hernández. I know exactly who you are."

"And yet you still have the balls to talk to me like you just did?" he asked with a big grin.

Maria blushed and looked down, "Señor. You're embarrassing me."

"Haha! My youngest son is your age. I should bring him next time I visit this country."

"Perdón, soy lesbiana."

"Ahh. I don't have any daughters. But I do have one gay son. So no problem."

"It doesn't work that way, you fucking idiot!" yelled Lorenzo while gesticulating wildly with his hands.

McKenna took another big gulp of her champagne. "I really thought she was about to get us all killed there…" she said just as a waiter came by to top off her glass for her. "Thank you," she said to him.

"Nothing to worry about. She's just making friends," remarked Tatenashi.

"She'd better. The people in this room are the only people on Earth who'd ever hire her," remarked Jennifer.

* * *

The boat came to a stop near the opposite shore from the academy and dropped anchor. The girls stood to the side to watch the monorail moving across the bay. They were relieved to see that they were still far ahead of it despite the long delay.

"Too bad we don't have time for a swim. Even if its dark, the weather's great," remarked Jennifer as she gazed out at the ocean.

"I bet you look damn sexy in a bikini."

"Damn right I do! But not in front of your wandering eyes!" said Jennifer as she shoved Maria off the side.

"No no no! AHHHHH!"

The little American landed belly first into the water with a small but loud splash.

"Belly flop!" exclaimed Tatenashi with a boisterous laugh.

McKenna couldn't help but snicker.

"I can't swim!" screamed Maria just before she sank.

" **Oh shit!"** exclaimed Jennifer and McKenna at the same time before jumping into the water after her.

* * *

Jennifer and McKenna threw Maria onto the deck and glared daggers at her, "You idiot! How the hell can you not know how to swim!" yelled Jennifer.

Maria violently coughed up some water after pushing herself up onto her hands and knees.

"Bitch! I'm from fucking Alaska! Fall in the water in my hometown, not being able to swim will be the least of your fucking problems!"

McKenna put her arms up on the back of the boat and glared at Maria, "Hey! I'm from the Yukon and I know how to swim! Helps that we have a deep river behind my house that we practically own, but still. What's your excuse?"

"Fucking hell! So what? I can't swim! It wouldn't have mattered if you didn't toss me overboard!"

Jennifer crossed her arms and turned her back on the coughing American. "I should have left you to drown…"

"Well why didn't you? I thought you wanted me dead?" asked Maria while getting up onto her feet.

"Because I'm better than you!" she exclaimed while turning around to face her. "That's all there is to it! If I just let you drown, I'd be no better than you! I won't sink to your level!"

Tatenashi clapped her hands. "Good on you, Jennifer. Now I need to go say bye to our host to avoid being rude. Could you all wait here?"

McKenna pushed herself up onto the boat from the water. "Yeah. Sure. Why not?"

Jennifer turned around to where Tatenashi had just been standing. "Hey! Ask for some towels too!"

"Sure thing! Maybe some disguises would also be appropriate?" said Tatenashi from out of sight.

"Do you have a costume fetish or something?! Don't you dare even think about it!" screamed Jennifer.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the I.S. Academy in room 1042…

"Bollocks!" exclaimed Josephine.

"What happened?" asked Maya while turning around to see Josephine, and then quickly turned back around when she saw her student was topless.

"I just broke the hook. This was my favorite bra!"

Maya sighed, "I know exactly how you feel…" she said while glancing down at herself. "I've lost quite a few of my own favorites that way."

"How do you put up with it? I always tell myself that if I can ever afford it, I'm getting breast reduction. You're twice my size!"

"It's just my reality. But reduction is something I've considered in the past. Especially when I was your age and my breasts were getting bigger and bigger and I kept having to buy new bras… Oh, and get the locking mechanism of my I.S. adjusted for my new cup size every few months… So embarrassing. They finally stopped growing in my third year."

"I've had to go through that with the Fury as well… More embarrassingly, the design of my locking mechanism requires them to scan me and have the chest plate machined out of a single block of metal. The people who operate that machine are all men…"

"That can't have been comfortable..."

"They were very professional about it, but that didn't make it any easier. They were perfect gentlemen, but I couldn't help but imagine them vicariously touching me as they worked on those parts… I felt guilty for thinking it. They never, ever, gave me cause to think them anything but good, decent, hard working people."

"That's the power of the mind though isn't it? Sometimes we just can't help but think the worst. But we push those thoughts aside because we also have the capacity for higher reasoning. We use that to balance our judgement."

Josephine nodded before pulling on her pyjama top. "Indeed. You're quite right. I'm going to make some tea. Would you care for some?"

"That would be wonderful! Thank you so much."

"It's the least I can do," she replied while walking over to the kitchen. "Would you mind if I asked if you've ever had to put up with this sort of thing when you were a student?"

Maya pushed up her glasses, "You mean bullies, and people trying to steal my I.S.?"

"Among other things. Yes."

"Nobody ever tried to steal mine. But it wasn't unheard of. As for bullies. I'm afraid to say yes. Quite a few. The school has strict rules against it, but, as we both know, those don't really matter since they can't really be enforced in any meaningful way that doesn't end up exacerbating the situation."

"Any advice on how we can get them to stop? I had a plan, but it seems I won't be getting to put it into action."

Maya slowly nodded, "In my first year we had a Representative Contender whose personal unit came in the stand-by form of a Teddy Bear."

"Oh how adorable!"

"It was. At least to me. Not so much to the others. Bad enough she had her own second generation state of the art I.S. But the fact that she was a small, shy, and insecure girl clutching her teddy bear all the time was fuel for the bullies. I couldn't stand it. So anyone who gave her any grief, I would immediately challenge to a duel. I also trained with her every day trying to get her to be stronger, more aggressive, more self-reliant..."

"What was her name?"

"Chloe."

"Chloe Martin?" asked Josephine.

"I assume you heard what happened to her?"

Josephine nodded. "Yes…"

"I was the one who found her. She was late to meet me for breakfast so I went to check on her. Found her in the bathroom. Her roommate hadn't even realized… She never even really ever spoke to her even though they lived together... I was so angry! Blind anger. You know? Before I knew what I was doing I had beat her so badly she spent a week in the infirmary. I never got over that, and I never forgave anyone who bullied her."

"You beat up her roommate for not caring enough to check on her. Dare I ask what you did to the instigators?"

Maya rubbed her eyes as she took a very deep breath. "There wasn't much I could do… Violence wasn't the answer. I was on probation for the assault, among other punishments. Though, violence was high on my list of solutions. In the end, I just wasn't strong enough to overcome them. I beat some of them in the tournaments. Then I lost to one of them and I was so completely devastated and humiliated,

"To answer your question, Josephine. You have to beat them anyway you can without breaking the rules and getting yourself expelled. Bullies don't stop until they either lose interest, or get beaten by their victims so badly that they become the bullied. It's a vicious conflict with no winners. Only losers, and victims."

Josephine poured the boiling water into two cups with tea bags and then brought them over to the table. "Dare I ask if this was how and why you developed the aggressive over-the-top fighting style which Maria strives to emulate?"

"It is. I had so much anger and rage that I needed to channel into something. That was the result. Though I could never fully develop it. I was always held back by something… Maria frightens me because she doesn't have those reservations. That fear of actually hurting someone. That fear of completely losing control of your rage? Do you know what I'm trying to say?"

"I do," Josephine seated herself and stared deep into her teacher's green eyes. "So what happened in the end?"

"They never felt even a little remorse for what happened…" she said while meeting her student's gaze. "In my second year I challenged the worst of the bullies to a duel. I beat her. I had to use every bit of my strength and intelligence to do it because her I.S. out-classed mine in every conceivable way. But in the end I won. I got her mandatory unlock to trigger, and then, I was staring at her, down the barrel of my rifle… and I pulled the trigger."

Josephine widened her eyes in shock, "You killed her?!"

"I was out of ammunition…"

"Did you know that you were?"

Maya closed her eyes and visibly struggled with the memory. "I keep replaying that moment in my mind from time to time. I honestly don't know if I knew or not."

"That's… dark."

"I did learn an important lesson from that experience. If you take nothing else from what happened back then, take this. There's a difference between revenge, and justice. The line is thin, obscure, but it is there. The only people who should dish out either, are the ones who know where that line is, and know which side of it they're on."

"If I understand your meaning. You're saying that both are acceptable?"

"Yes. But only when you know which is which. And what is what. And most of all, when to apply which. Unfortunately, there's no way to say which should be applied to what. That only comes from experience."

Josephine closed her eyes and brought the teacup up to her face. She inhaled deeply of the soothing aroma as her mind raced with this new point of view to consider.

"I've always believed that people can get along. That we all fundamentally want the same things. To live peaceful and happy lives. To make the world better for ourselves and each other."

"We do," the verdant haired woman quickly injected. "The problem is, we all have our own idea of what that world should be. For some people, they just think it would be better if certain people weren't a part of it. You'll find a lot of that here."

"I've had a taste of that elitism."

"No, Josephine. You haven't seen anything yet."

Josephine opened her eyes to be met with the stern gaze of her teacher.

"You _really_ haven't seen _anything_ yet."

* * *

In the city, near the shopping mall, was a long dark street which Jennifer, Maria, McKenna, and Tatenashi walked down.

"Good thing Josie isn't with us. It's kinda spooky this late at night," observed Maria.

"This part of town completely shuts down after the mall closes," explained Jennifer. "The only people you'll find here are the staff from the academy headed home after work."

"Don't the staff have dorms as well?" asked McKenna.

"Not all. A lot of the support staff work in shifts. So it depends."

"Especially men. They don't get to live at the academy. They have to commute," added Tatenashi.

"Fascinating. We got some time to kill… Wanna play 'I spy?'" asked Maria.

Jennifer's eye snapped onto Maria, "Sure! I spy with my little eye, something small, and evil!"

"Checking out my ass?"

"Yes. I'm looking for the ideal spot to kick for maximum damage!"

"We already established you can't kick my ass. But you know. I gotta ask. Do you hate me for what happened to your sis, or because I'm gay and attracted to you?"

"All three! I hate you for what you did to my sister! I despise you for being an abomination! And I'm really disgusted by you thinking you could ever find your way into my bed! The only thing you'll ever get from me is the business end of my AXE!"

Maria stopped walking. So did Tatenashi and McKenna. The Canadian and Japanese girls quickly turned to see the psychotic look in Maria's eyes.

"Tazzy. You have no idea what kind of abomination I really am…"

Jennifer put her hands on her hips and defiantly stared down the little American who still had her back to the blonde. "Oh how scary!"

"You wanna rag on me for your sister. Go ahead. You wanna rag on me for being gay? That's your fucking business. Wanna rag on me for thinking you're beautiful? Well. It certainly explains why you're single."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"A lot. But those three things you hate me for. None of them are actually my fault. There wasn't anything anyone could do for your sister. I can't-"

"Fuck you! I've seen how fast the Meteor is! You could have easily closed the distance and picked her up!"

"Again. There was nothing I could do. Whatever you concoct in your mind is your business. It was amusing the first time when we got to fight over it. But it's getting old now. The same with you shitting on me for being gay. That's also getting old."

"Ever tried not being gay? What really pisses me off about you is how you invite your own problems. If you choose to be gay that's your problem, just keep it out of my face! You and all the other queers, but you especially! It's like you want to live in a state of constant conflict with everyone and everything around you!"

"Maria…" said McKenna with a stern voice, "Remember why we're here. We're here for Josephine."

"That's the only reason I'm not doing anything to her."

McKenna reached out and grabbed Maria by the arm to pull her along.

Just before Jennifer could start walking again she was stopped by Tatenashi holding up her hand to her face.

"Jennifer."

"You wanna start shit?"

Tatenashi shook her head and lowered her hand. "No. I just want to tell you something."

"What's that?"

"Just that if your life experience is telling you that being gay is a choice. You might be bi-sexual."

"Fuck you! I'm not! I don't actually give a fuck that she's gay. It doesn't affect me. I just want to hurt her!"

"I really don't care if you are or aren't. I don't care if you admit it or not. But keep in mind. I'm also bi-sexual."

"Could you skip to the fucking point, you stupid Jap?"

"Wow. Balls of steel, and sandpaper for skin. Fine. Here's my point. You have a problem with her-"

"Damn right I do! She hacked my sister's I.S. and tried to kill her! But what the fuck would you know about what that feels like?"

"I have a younger sister too, I love her more than anything. I would do anything for her. Believe me I can sympathize. Normally I would be on your side of that conflict. But if you're going to be so difficult, then you'll be on your own."

"I'm always on my own!"

"You don't have to be. You and Maria seem to have that in common. Your instinct is to drive people away and then get upset with them for turning on you. Lucky for you, my instinct is the opposite. I like to bring people together, not drive them apart."

"You're not going to get me to be friends with that bitch!"

"I don't expect you to be friends. I expect you to set it aside for Josephine. You said yourself earlier that you're here for her. Has that changed?"

"No. It hasn't. She's my friend. The only one I have right now…"

"You and Maria have that in common as well. From where I'm standing you seem to have a lot in common. Neither of you have any friends except for Josephine. She must see something in both of you that you can't see in yourselves or each other. Maybe try putting some faith and trust in her?"

"And what? Forgive Maria?"

"I didn't say that. I wouldn't forgive her either. I'm asking you to put it aside for the moment. Can you do that?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Now let's go take your anger out on that bitch and get the Fury back for Josephine!"

"Right. Let's do that."

* * *

Daniella Arad carefully made sure she would be the last to step off the monorail and made herself as small as possible to avoid questions. It wasn't everyday a student was let out of school at this late hour and questions would be natural. Thankfully the train load of Japanese people had a strong cultural aversion to human interaction on public transportation. That made the journey much easier. Nobody asked questions. Nobody even looked at anyone else. The most they would look up from their phones for was to crack their necks and then look back down.

" _They wouldn't last three days in Israel. Week at the most…"_ she thought to herself. She'd always been taught to be hyper vigilant on public transport. It was just a fact of life where she was from that one had to, for their own survival, know how to spot things which were out of place anywhere they went. The things you overlook tend to be the things which will probably explode in your face. It was true of mundane objects, and mundane people…

The flood of people walked down a staircase to the left which would take them to the street and then onto wherever they were going. Daniella followed the crowd, doing her utmost to look natural, like she knew where she was going and that she belonged here on this day at this hour. Her eyes set firmly on her destination, the end of the street.

She walked with the group until she split from them to cross the main street. Once there she would wait for a bus to take her to her final destination.

It took six stops before she finally reached the sea side on the northern side of the city coast line. It was deserted at this hour, but during the day it was doubtlessly full of people enjoying strolls on the long boardwalk, enjoying ocean views and fresh sea air. It was something she even considered doing herself in the future.

She walked along, hearing nothing but the soft sound of the ocean waves rolling into the dolosse between the boardwalk and the ocean. The area was illuminated by lamps, and there were a few people here and there, couples mostly who were out enjoying the romantic views of the ocean. With a full moon out and just a few clouds lit by the moon's brilliance to decorate the sky. There was also a wonderful path of light along the sea leading to the moon itself.

On any other night in such a place, she would curse the fact that she was single and had no one to enjoy this with. But she had a purpose which she had to stay focused on. She turned her eyes forward again and continued on down the path.

Daniella had no idea how she would recognize the person she was looking for but felt that she would know them when she saw them.

He really wasn't difficult to find. A single man sitting on a bench at this hour. He stuck out like a sore thumb. But perhaps that was the point? What did he need to be afraid of here?

"Shalom," she said to him while sitting down on the bench.

The man slowly nodded his head.

"Hand it over," he said to her in a low voice without even looking at her. His eyes fixed on his surroundings.

"What about what I was promised?"

"You'll get it. Now hand it over. Stop wasting time."

Daniella reached into her pocket and pulled out the wrist watch which she then placed into the man's waiting hand.

He took a moment to confirm that it was what she said it would be before he put it into his pocket. Next he picked up a briefcase he had resting beside him on the bench and set it down between himself and the teenage girl.

"As promised," he said to her.

"Is it really in here?"

"Yes. I assume you know what to do with it?"

"Yes. I was given instructions," she replied while picking up the case and held its handle tightly.

"Good. Now take it, and go."

"What about the hand off?"

"Your role in this is concluded."

"But I need to make sure that-"

"I said your part in this is over. You need to leave. Now."

"Could you at least tell me-"

"Too late..."

"What?"

Daniella turned her head to look in the direction the man beside her was looking and instantly spotted McKenna, Maria, Jennifer, and Tatenashi walking towards them in a neat line with stone faced expressions.

The man beside her got up and started running, leaving behind a stunned and bewildered Daniella. Jennifer instantly bolted after the man followed closely by Maria.

Daniella finally regained her wits and stood up. Her head snapped from left to right in desperate search of an exit, but before she could run, Maria blew past her and knocked her back down into the bench as she passed. The next thing she knew, McKenna and Tatenashi were standing over her.

McKenna cracked a smile, and her knuckles, "Now the fun begins."

* * *

Jennifer exploded into a sprint after the fleeing man. She wasn't sure who he was but he was dressed for anonymity in a tracksuit and sneakers, he appeared as if he was just exercising, which meant stopping him was up to her alone.

The man was almost unbelievably fast and had almost reached the end of the boardwalk already. Jennifer was hot on his heels and gaining on him by the second. The man sidestepped the benches and trash cans that obstructed his escape attempts. His movements were graceful, but each one slowed him down. Jennifer had no such issues. She ran in perfect step to mount benches and run along or over them.

As she hurdled the final trashcan on the boardwalk she looked up and saw the man dart across the street in the direction of a narrow alleyway. She swore under her breath as a few cars screeched to a halt without hitting him. Taking advantage of the break in the traffic he'd caused she crossed after him, smoothly sliding through the hoods of cars and hurriedly entered the alley behind him.

Immediately, she heard him before she saw him, clambering up a three story metal fire escape. He was already halfway up, but the amateur was actually using the stairs. Confidently she leapt upwards and grabbed onto the safety railings, straining to pull herself up, she swiftly gained footing and repeated her movements to get to the second story of the escape.

She caught a glimpse of her adversary scrambling off the final ladder onto the roof as she pulled herself onto the final balcony of the fire escape. Electing to use the ladder herself she practically bounded up onto the rooftop. She grinned as she realised she was gaining on him, but he wasn't done yet.

The man raced across the rooftop, and, without a second thought, dove across the narrow gap between two buildings onto a new roof. Not to be outdone, Jennifer rushed after him, clearing the majority of the roof in a few strides before taking the leap herself.

Landing a perfect side roll she sprang back to her feet as the man leapt across another alley onto a lower roof, landing awkwardly he yelped slightly from a fresh sprain, and Jennifer knew the moment was close.

She followed his movement, sticking the landing once again as the tall man started running down the fire escape on their new building. Jennifer set off after the man again.

She followed closely behind him as he kept casting panicked glances over his shoulder, bounding down stairs as fast as his relatively long legs would allow.

By the time he reached the floor, Jennifer was one story up, a mere ten feet from the ground when she vaulted over the railing, nearly landing on the man's head and sending him sprawling to the floor as he tried to avoid the falling Australian.

* * *

McKenna looked down on the girl with an expression Tatenashi could only describe as indifferent.

"So what are you going to do? Hmm? I'll tell you what you'll do. Nothing. You can't touch me. So I'm going to walk away now."

"No, you're not," replied McKenna in her most matter of fact tone.

Tatenashi couldn't help the smile that crept across her face as she watched her friend. Her posture of confidence and cool demeanor were, _exceedingly_ attractive to her. Daniella was like an ant coming up to an anteater and getting snarky, it would be cute, if it weren't so preposterous.

Daniella started walking, towards McKenna, as if she intended to walk straight through her. "Are you going to stop me?"

The Canadian crossed her arms and stepped up into her personal space. "Yes."

"How do you plan on that?" asked Daniella with all her smug and misplaced confidence.

McKenna stepped through the Israeli and with one outstretched arm and one leg, tripped her to the ground with a loud cry of pain.

"Like that," she said calmly.

"You bitch!" she exclaimed while getting up.

"Uh-uh!" exclaimed Tatenashi who quickly put a foot on Daniella's chest and forced her back to the ground. "You stay down."

"Fuck you!" exclaimed Daniella while trying to push Tatenashi's leg off her. But she was just too strong for her and eventually gave up while both girls just stared indifferently at her.

"You need to answer for what you did to Josephine…" started McKenna. "Just be thankful that you're dealing with us instead of Maria."

"There's nothing you can do to me. When we get back to school you'll just-"

Tatenashi pressed down on her chest just that extra bit harder to shut her up. "There's loads we can do to you. But we're just going to let you off with a harsh warning. Stay out of our way. Mind your own business. And this all ends here."

"Or what?" she managed to get out.

"I think a demonstration is in order. What do you think Tatenashi?"

Tatenashi grinned widely, "Arad-chan? Can you swim? We don't want to repeat an earlier incident."

Daniella's eyes widened slightly. "What?"

"If you can't, this is a good time to learn," said McKenna while bending down to grab Daniella's arms. Tatenashi then stepped off and quickly grabbed her by the flailing legs. The pair then carried her screaming to the edge of the pier.

They started to swing her. "One…" they swung her again, "Two…" and then finally, "THREE!" they exclaimed as they tossed her over the railing and into the sea.

The pair then leaned over the railing to look down in amusement as they saw her furiously yelling at them.

"Just a sec," said McKenna. She walked back a few steps and picked up Daniella's bag. She then threw it over the side. "Here's your bag, bitch."

"Fuck you!" screamed Daniella. "I'm going to get you for this!"

"You know there are sharks in that water right? Better get swimming!" said Tatenashi.

"WHAT?!" she screamed back while grabbing her bag, and then started swimming one handed towards the dolosse section to find a way back up onto the boardwalk.

" _Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!"_ sang Tatenashi as she started walking away from the edge.

"So what do you wanna do now?" she asked McKenna.

The brunette shrugged, "Maybe we should go find Maria and Jennifer? Make sure they're not tearing each other apart?"

"If we go looking for them, they won't know where to find us. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be fine."

"I wish I had your confidence…"

"Have faith. Everything will work out perfectly."

"I wish I had your confidence…"

"And I wish I had your legs!" replied the bubbly bluenette.

McKenna rolled her eyes, "Here we go again…"

"No seriously! You're like medically _perfect_! Long legs. Long arms. Perfect bust. You're just the right height, everything is in perfect proportion. You're like, completely anatomically correct!"

"I'm not sure if this is a compliment," McKenna growled half-heartedly before she started laughing. "Anatomically correct?! That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"But it's true! They'd put your picture in a medical textbook to illustrate the definition of sex appeal!"

McKenna laughed until her sides started to ache and Tatenashi couldn't help but smile.

"Alright… That… Was funny. Well done. Points to you."

"Yay! What did I win?"

"The right to keep living!"

"Aww! But I want a prize!"

"You are the prize!"

"I know…" she whispered salaciously next to the Canadian's ear causing McKenna to sidestep and put some distance between them.

"Alright! Ease up before I stick you in a penalty box!"

Tatenashi raised an eyebrow at the Canadian, "Penalty box? What's that?"

"Seriously? Ice Hockey?"

"I don't know anything about hockey."

"You've never even seen a game?"

"Nope."

"Going to have to correct that. If you want to keep hanging out with me, you're going to have to learn to appreciate Ice Hockey."

Tatenashi lit up with a bright pearly white smile, "I get to keep hanging out with you?"

"ONLY if you learn to love hockey!"

"For you. I could learn to love a lot of things. Even great big alien dild-"

" **DON'T FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"** yelled McKenna.

* * *

He knew he had to do something. Escape was no longer the easy option, not with an olympic level athlete on his heels. His hand started coming up towards the zipper of his hoodie while Jennifer rushed at him.

Out of nowhere, Maria dropped down on top of the man. Before the Australian realized what had happened, he was down, and he wasn't getting back up.

"I didn't need your help! I had this!"

"Of course you did…" said Maria, not even out of breath as she held up a pistol.

"Where'd you get that?!"

"From him. He was going to shoot you," she replied in a matter-of-fact voice as she ejected the magazine from the weapon and cleared the chamber before she rapidly and expertly started to disassemble the pistol.

"You're… pretty good at that?"

"I got a compliment. Yay!" she said softly, but happily, as she discarded the parts of the man's pistol. She then started checking the man's unconscious body for more weapons, identification, and the wrist watch.

"Please tell me he still has the watch!" said Jennifer as she started catching her breath.

"Yup. No wallet. No ID. But he's Mossad."

"Mossad?"

"Israeli Intelligence. Fucking dumber oxymoron than American freedom."

"I know what it is. But how do you know?"

"He's packing Israeli heat. Fucking slut was handing it off to this fucking dumb fucking stupid..."

"You lost your 'crazy train' of thought…"

"Yes, and I fucking love that song. But whatever. Got what we came for," replied Maria while tossing up the wrist watch and then catching it. "Let's get the fuck outta here."

"Just give a moment to catch my breath… How are _you_ not exhausted? How did you even keep up?"

"I work out a lot."

"So do I…"

"You need to eat more apples then."

"Fuck you…"

"Sure. But if you don't mind, I'd like to freshen up first. I'd like my first time to be all nice and clean, not all salty and nasty."

"Eeeew! Get your mind out of the gutter and let's get the hell out of here!"

* * *

The four girls finally made it back to the first year dorms without drawing any attention thanks to a combination of Jennifer knowing the grounds inside and out, and Maria's ACCESS system being used to negate the security systems. Once they reached the dorm buildings, Jennifer parted ways with the group to return to her own building while Maria, McKenna, and Tatenashi headed into the first year building.

Maria and McKenna entered their room where they were instantly greeted by Josephine standing up from her laptop with her hands over her heart upon seeing the disheveled state her roommates were in.

"Quest completed," remarked McKenna with a thumbs up to Josephine while she and Maria stepped up to the busty blonde, there Maria took hold of her left arm and then gently replaced her wrist watch.

Josephine tearfully reached out and pulled both of her roommates into a warm embrace. "I knew you wouldn't fail. I never doubted you for a moment."

"Thanks. But we couldn't have done it without Tatenashi and Jennifer," answered McKenna.

Josephine sniffled, and then sniffed the air between them, "Why do you both smell like wet dog? What happened?"

"Because we're hot bitches!" answered Maria.

"Oh. You're back?" said Maya as she slowly sat up in Maria's bed.

"Miss Yamada? You're still here?" asked Maria.

"Yes. I didn't want to leave her all alone. I'm also sorry I slept in your bed. I hope you don't mind?"

"Naa. If it's you, it's fine," said Maria while stepping back from Josephine, "Dibs on the shower!" exclaimed Maria while running to the bathroom.

"Bitch! I gotta pee!" yelled McKenna while chasing after her.

Josephine snickered with amusement while wiping away her joyful tears with her sleeve before turning back to look at Maya who was now sitting on the side of the bed with her own amused expression.

"You're lucky, Josephine. You have good friends. Cherish them."

She took a deep breath before mustering up a sincere smile for her teacher. "I will. No matter what. I will always cherish them. Always protect them. Always look out for them. Forever and always."

Maya smiled a mix of elation and sadness. "I know you'll go far," she said before scooting out of the bed. "I'd better be off now. I wouldn't want to have to explain to Miss Orimura why I spent the night in a student's room. I'm not supposed to be the one getting such lectures from teachers anymore."

"You've done nothing wrong. You were there for us when we needed you. That's what a good teacher is meant to do. I'm proud to have you as my instructor. It means the world to know you'll risk your neck for your students. I'd do the same for you."

"If you're ever in a situation where you'd have to, it means I'm not doing my job right," she answered with a slightly sterner tone. "But I do appreciate it. Have a good night, Josephine."

"And you, Maya."

* * *

Josephine, McKenna, and Maria were among the first to arrive in class. Each went off to their assigned seats with McKenna being up against the side wall in the second row, Josephine being at the second to last seat in the back beside the windows, and Maria being two seats ahead of her.

Once she was at her desk, Maria pulled out an apple and took a big bite out of it while McKenna tapped a few commands into her desk to call up a technical design for one of Tatenashi's weapon ideas, and Josephine pulled out her class books, along with La Guerra de Guerrillas and opened up to where she left off.

She had been so absorbed by the book that she didn't even realize how much time had passed because the next thing she knew someone was standing over her and when she looked up from the book she saw Daniella Arad standing there, and the classroom was almost full.

"I'm challenging you," she said with a harsh, almost growling voice. "I'm challenging you for class rep!"

There was a deafening silence which fell over the room and time seemed to stand still for everyone watching.

Josephine nodded and placed her bookmark in the page she had been reading before closing the book and then set it down neatly on top of her textbooks.

"Very well. Let me just see if I've got the time," she calmly replied while pulling up her left arm sleeve.

"Ha! You really don't have the time. So just-"

Daniella was silenced, and her jaw was agape while Josephine stared at her heirloom timepiece.

"It seems I do _indeed_ have the time."

"How?" she asked quietly.

"You're the one issuing the challenge. So you tell me how we shall proceed," replied Josephine in a louder voice for all to hear.

Daniella stayed quiet.

"Cat got your tongue? What about tomorrow after school? Maria? Since you have the most experience with this, could you be a dear and book us an arena for tomorrow at, shall we say four?"

"Not a problem, Josie!" replied the American before taking another big bite out of her apple.

"Anything else?" asked Josephine to the still silent Daniella.

The Israeli girl shook her head, "I don't know how they did it, but don't be overconfident!"

"I've no idea what you're talking about, but I can assure you, I've just the right amount of confidence. Not too much, not too little."

"Whatever, Goldilocks. I'll see you in the arena! If you even show up..."

Daniella got a quick fright when she felt someone's breath against her ear, she pulled back and found herself staring into the blank and emotionless crimson eyes of Maria Cross.

"Nothing will keep her from your appointment... because if anything does…"

Daniella felt something poking into her side, she looked down and saw Maria holding a pencil there.

"Are we clear?" asked Maria.

"What're you going to do with that? Hmm? Get yourself expelled? Then arrested?"

Maria pressed the pencil in just a little harder. "Test me."

"Back off Maria! I think she gets your point," said Josephine in a forceful tone.

Maria stepped back and nodded to Josephine before going back to her desk without saying anything further.

"Good. Never keep your pets off their leashes!"

"You should mind yourself. Because her leash is very hard to hold..."

"I think you're all forgetting just who holds all the leashes in this class," said Chifuyu from the rear entrance as she walked into the room. "Everyone take your seats. Williams, Cross, Tremblay, and Mayuzumi, we're all going to have a talk after morning classes!"

Mayuzumi's head slumped down and she felt her pulse rate shoot up along with a cold sweat.

* * *

After school, Josephine, Maria, McKenna, Jennifer, Tatenashi, Mayuzumi, and Maya were lined up neatly on the side of the school's clay running track where Chifuyu crossed her arms and glowered at the seven young women assembled before her.

"Why is Miss Yamada here with us and not there with you?" asked Maria.

"Shut up, Cross!"

"Yes, ma'am..."

"The seven of you are here because you are the dumbest of the dumb... The most incompetent of the incompetent. The most pathetic of the pathetic..."

Maya audibly gulped at what she heard. "Am I getting fired?"

"Worse. Much. Much. Worse."

"May I ask what we did wrong?" asked Jennifer.

"You already know the answer to that. And you all should know by now that I know the answer to that as well. Now you'll all start by running a mile. Then you'll pick up some brooms and smooth the track. And when you've finished... You're going to do it over again."

"How many times, ma'am?" asked Tatenashi.

"Until I get tired! Now get to it! If I can't make you smart, then I'm going to make you _strong_!"

Just as the girls all started running Chifuyu reached out and grabbed Maya by the arm to stop her running. "I'm proud of you."

"Umm? Thank you, ma-" Chifuyu then shoved her down the track. "Waaa!"

"Get running!"

"YES, MA'AM!"

* * *

 **A few hours later...**

"Aaaaa!" exclaimed Josephine as she collapsed into her bed. "Somebody please, kill me. It hurts so much!"

"I can't even make it into my bed…" remarked McKenna as she sat down on the floor in Maria's usual spot for watching the TV.

"Pfft. Lightweights," snarked Maria as she sat down in one of the chairs around the dining table.

"How the hell aren't you dead on your feet?" asked McKenna.

"Oh please. That was nothing. I can do a marathon in three hours. It's all about endurance."

"Freak…" muttered McKenna.

"Yeah. I am a freak. You two want anything?"

Josephine put her hand up, "Chocolate! I have a bar in the fridge, just give it to me!"

"Is this going to be a regular thing for us?" asked McKenna.

Josephine leaned over her bed to look at her, "What do you mean?"

"Being punished by Miss Orimura every few days… Is this really what our lives are going to be like? Have we become the school's biggest problem kids?"

"Possibly…" muttered Josephine as she rolled back over onto her back. "I was always getting detentions, or extra homework and the like back in England. I'm used to it. But, if there's a hell, I'm going there, and Miss Orimura will be there to administer my eternal torture."

"I'd better not see you anywhere near hell," remarked Maria as she tossed over the requested chocolate bar.

"I think that's a compliment, but it might also be a threat. Regardless…" she said while opening the wrapper, then took a bite out of her chocolate bar. "I _need_ chocolate and sleep. If only I could both sleep and eat chocolate at the same time…"

"That would be nice, but you can't. But you can you at least take off your shoes before you get into bed," said Maria.

"There's no way I can bend down enough to get my shoes off… This pain in my back is so sharp I feel like Caesar after Brutus' stag party."

"Lemmie help you then," said Maria while moving down to the end of the bed where she started to untie Josephine's sneakers.

"Aren't you going to freak out about how dirty my shoes are?"

"That's my problem…"

"If you freak out in here, it'll be _our_ problem," said McKenna. "If you can just get my purse out of the cabinet, I have some Ibuprofen in there. And a tube of Bengay, which will help a lot."

"Sure, just a sec…" she replied while pulling off the first shoe which she dropped on the floor as if it were burning hot before following with the second.

"Thank you, Maria… I appreciate it," said the exhausted Josephine.

"No problem! Gonna wash my hands, then I'll get your pills and cream!" she answered while running off to the bathroom.

"I can't believe she did that for you," remarked McKenna once she heard the bathroom sink running.

"I'll have you know she _**is**_ capable of kindness."

"Being capable, and being willing, aren't the same… Most of the time she's mean just because it's fun, that's her normal mode. When she's being nice, that's when I get paranoid."

"I've long accepted that Maria is a puzzle wrapped in a mystery, encased in an enigma and hidden in a maze."

"Are you always so long winded?"

"Everyone always says that to me. I'm afraid it's simply one of those flaws I can't be rid of."

"Spend more time on Twitter. It'll force you to be more concise."

"Hmm… I hadn't thought of it like that. In my experience, Twitter is just an online latrine pit filled with the most foul fecal matter to ever be excreted from the collective minds of the human race."

McKenna snickered for a brief moment, "You clearly haven't experienced 4chan..."

Josephine raised an eyebrow, "What's that?"

"Google it. If you dare…"

A few minutes later Maria came back into the room with that happy-go-lucky expression plastered all over her face. "Alright, so, let's get you both medicated and into bed. I've got some errands to run."

"Errands?" asked McKenna.

"Did I stutter?" asked Maria while looking through McKenna's hand bag for the medication.

"No. But what kind of errands could you possibly have to run?"

"Just a little of this and that. Don't worry about it."

Josephine slowly pushed herself up enough to be able to turn her head and look at the little American girl, "Why is it that when you say 'don't worry about it' I'm suddenly very worried about it?"

* * *

 **The next morning...**

Maria tossed an apple so high up into the air that it almost hit the ceiling while she slouched back into her classroom chair and put her feet up on the desk before catching the red fruit in her waiting hand. "Ahh. Life is good."

"What're you so happy about?" asked Daniella after setting her book bag down on her desk. She then stepped over to glower at the little American.

Maria took a bite of her apple, "Give it about five, ten minutes tops, and you'll see," she said before swallowing. "Then you'll start training yourself to sleep with one eye open."

"As if I need to be afraid of you anymore."

"Did you have a nice talk with Miss Orimura? I'm surprised you didn't get expelled."

"The world doesn't work according to your expectations! So why don't you keep your mouth shut?"

"The world works best when it goes according to my expectations," she answered calmly before taking another bite of her apple. Her face then resumed its previous bright and cheerful smile.

"Is there a problem here?" asked McKenna as she stepped up to the pair. Josephine just a step behind.

"Not yet it would seem…" replied the Israeli who couldn't get her eyes off the smug looking Maria. "What the hell has she done to be looking so pleased with herself?!"

Maria moved her thumb and index finger across her lips in a zipping motion.

"Everyone take your seats!" exclaimed Chifuyu as she entered the classroom. Then she looked around. "Where the hell is everyone?" she asked while taking note of a dozen empty chairs. "Cross! Get your feet down off the desk! Where do you think you are?"

"Yes, ma'am!" replied Maria while putting her feet down.

"Miss Orimura! Miss Orimura!" yelled a group of girls as they ran into the room and then right up to the teacher.

"What is it..." she asked with annoyance.

"When we woke up this morning, literally everything in our room was wrapped in aluminum foil! The mirrors, the TV, computers, chairs, the kettle, everything!"

Chifuyu raised an eyebrow at the first two girls to speak. "How the hell could someone do that without waking you up?!"

Before they could answer another girl spoke up, "When I woke up this morning and tried to go... The toilet was covered with cling wrap..." the next girl explained shamefully.

"What about you two?" she asked the next two girls.

The girl opened her mouth to reveal black teeth and then quickly covered her mouth.

"We don't know how it happened. She just brushed her teeth and this happened. Her toothpaste and mouthwash were clean..." explained her room mate.

Chifuyu's eyebrow started to twitch. "And you?" she asked the final pair.

"When we woke up this morning, our entire floor was covered in plastic cups full of water..."

"Thank you for telling me. I'll take care of it."

"There's only one person in the school who would do this!" yelled one girl while pointing at Maria.

"I said I'll take care of it!"

McKenna looked over at Maria's stupid grin. "Maria. You've got a little evil on your face..."

Maria made a show of wiping it off, and then McKenna gestured to her own face, indicating the opposite side.

"You're risking expulsion again. Was it worth it?" asked Josephine. "She's going to punish you for this."

"If I had anything to do with it, it would have been the least I could do to repay them after all they did for us," answered Maria with that same smile back on her face.

"You're such an unbelievable b-"

"Arad! Sit down!"

"Yes, ma'am..." Daniella quickly sat down in her seat and then just as quickly stood back up. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" she screamed while looking at her seat. The cushion had been soaked in water.

Maria turned her smug grin over on the Israeli girl, "What? Did you think I forgot about you?"

"Miss Orimura… I need to change my uniform…" she said while flipping off Maria.

"Go ahead, Arad…" the teacher answered with exasperation.

As Daniella turned to walk away Maria put her fingers in her mouth and whistled a very loud cat call. "Nice panties! Red lace? Very bold!"

"Shut up, Cross! You're already in over your head! I advise you to stop digging before I bury you alive!"

At that moment, Maya Yamada entered the room and staggered her way over to the front of the room with one hand on her lower back. "Apologies for my tardiness, I had to stop in at the doctor's office this morning."

Chifuyu slowly nodded, "I see. Are you sick?"

"No, ma'am. Just in a little bit of pain. Nothing I can't work through," said the woman who couldn't even stand up straight.

"That's good. Because we have a lot more to do after school today."

Maya, Josephine, McKenna, and Mayuzumi all audibly gulped at that statement. Though Maria seemed to remain completely indifferent.

"Alright. Let's get started with class," stated Chifuyu with a level tone. "Everyone except Cross, get out your textbooks and open to chapter six. Cross, get out some clean paper and take a note of this…" she said before going up to the display on the front wall.

Chifuyu used the interface to type out a message. "I will not sneak into other people's dorm rooms to prank them. #ThisPunishmentIsNotBoringAndPointless."

The class started giggling while Chifuyu turned to level her sharp gaze on the amused looking red eyed girl. "You are going to write that out."

Maria raised her hand to her brow in a sloppy salute, "Yes, ma'am. How many times?"

"Until you run out of paper or class ends. Whichever comes first."

"Ma'am? Do you really think that is sufficient punishment for the dyke?" said a white haired Russian girl.

"I'm not ' _the dyke'_. I'm the girl in _comfortable shoes_! Thank you very much!"

"Now that's the way to sass, Maria!" commended Josephine.

"Comfortable shoes with which I will kick your fucking albino **ass**!"

Josephine balled a fist and punched her other hand with it. "Rrrr! So close! So close!"

"Shut up, Cross! You too, Kuznetsova! I don't tolerate her commentary, what makes you think I'll tolerate yours? And Williams, stop encouraging her!"

"Yes, ma'am…"

"My point still stands, Miss Orimura. This is a joke, not a punishment. What she did merits a greater punishment," said the Russian girl.

"Alright, Comrade Commissar. What do you think we should do with her? Send her to Siberia?"

Josephine covered her mouth to keep the giggles down to a few snickers.

"No! I don't want her near my home!"

"Ahh, another frostbitten bitch… like me!" remarked Maria with a sly grin directed at the Russian girl.

"Enough! Both of you!" yelled Chifuyu at the top of her lungs. "I'm reaching the limits of my already razor thin patience! Kuznetsova. You don't tell me how to discipline my students. I hand out punishments when and where I see fit. Now unless you'd like to experience my disciplinary methods first hand, I strongly recommend you drop this. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Why aren't textbooks open yet?" asked the still furious Chifuyu.

* * *

When lunch time came, Josephine, Maria, and McKenna waited outside their classroom for Tatenashi to join them before they would all go to the cafeteria together. It wasn't long before the blunette showed up with all her upbeat energy and cheesy smile.

"You're all a sight for sore eyes. I've had the most awkward morning so far."

Josephine looked at Tatenashi's happy expression, which did not seem to go at all with the tone of her statement. "What happened?"

"Was it Chang?" asked McKenna.

"Yeah. She hates my guts. Nothing I can do about it," replied Tatenashi. "Let's go get some food, I'm starving!"

"Let us hope they actually have edible meals today. I'm growing increasingly weary of playing Russian Roulette with my food," remarked Josephine.

"You all go ahead. I just need to ask Miss Orimura a question about something from class today," said McKenna.

"Alright. Shall we order you some food?" asked Tatenashi.

McKenna nodded, "Yeah. Please. Whatever you think is safe to eat."

* * *

Josephine stood in line at the cafeteria and kept her eyes on the screen displaying the day's menu.

"That's an interesting perfume you're wearing…" said the girl standing behind her.

Josephine turned around to find Daniella and the Russian girl from their class snickering at her.

"You do know that actual toilet water isn't a substitute for Eau de toilette right?" laughed Daniella.

"Oh my. Don't you sound smart all of a sudden?" remarked Josephine. "If you want to back out of our impending duel, you may simply say so."

Daniella pinched her nose, "Seriously, what is that stink you're wearing?"

"It's Bengay…"

Daniella felt someone tap her on the shoulder and turned to see Tatenashi standing beside her. "Hey, Shark Bait. If you wanted to go for another swim you should have just asked me!"

"I'll get you back for that, bitch. Just you wait!"

Tatenashi let out a boisterous laugh, "Last time you messed with Josephine you ended up Shark Bait, now you can't even sit down in a freaking chair without incident! How do you plan to get me back?"

Her face went sour as she glared into the Japenese girl's ruby eyes.

"That's what I thought. Oooh! Taiyaki! Yes! Josie! I know what I want!"

"You've certainly earned a treat. You can even have extra dessert."

"Yay!"

* * *

McKenna stepped out onto the roof and took a quick look around to spot the person she was looking for. The minty green haired Chinese girl was just sitting down against the railing to have her lunch while McKenna approached her.

Meiying stopped what she was doing and glanced up at the ponytailed brunette who leaned down and reached out to grab her by the arm. "Come with me."

"Why?"

"Because I can't stand sitting down there in the Cafeteria to eat knowing you're sitting up here all alone."

"That's not your problem," she replied while pulling back her arm.

McKenna refused to let go. "This isn't up for negotiation. You're joining us for lunch."

"I refuse. Now please let go of my arm."

"I refuse your refusal. I insist you come eat lunch with us. It's not cool that you're all by yourself here. You're a perfectly nice person, and you'll fit in just fine with us. Hell, you'd even be able to get along with Tatenashi if you gave her a chance. And if you give her a chance, maybe you can earn enough of her trust for her to open up to you about what she knows about your friend."

"You have a point. But I'm still not going to eat in front of strangers surrounded by the entire school. I have a difficult enough time already with this face."

"Fuck them, and fuck your face. You're coming to eat with us and that's final! Now don't make me carry you!"

"You really don't think this is at all inappropriate? You don't know me. We're not friends. The world doesn't work according to your whims."

"You're right. It doesn't work according to my whims. That's why I have to be proactive. Now are you coming? Or do I really have to carry you?"

* * *

"I really don't get that fucking kike. Where did she get the idea that she could challenge Josephine? Seriously? Who does she think she is?" said Maria before she took another bite of her Taiyaki. "Mmm! This really is fucking good!"

"I know right? They finally made something tasty in this place!" replied Tatenashi.

"Daniella is trying to save face after she failed to eliminate Josephine. That's all it is," explained Jennifer. "And there's much better Taiyaki from street vendors. This is just okay, not great."

Josephine closed her eyes for a long moment, "After humiliating her in front of the entire class, I would wager she's planning some kind of retribution. She won't just let that go."

"Next time I'll replace her lube with poison ivy juice…"

Josephine choked and started coughing, Jennifer gave Maria the dirtiest of dirty looks, Tatenashi just started laughing hysterically.

"Do I even want to know what you're laughing at?" asked Mayuzumi while standing beside their table.

"You had to have been here for the whole exchange," replied Tatenashi who was wiping tears from her eyes.

"Trust me, you're lucky you missed it," said an irritated Jennifer.

"I'll take your word for that… Umm… Do any of you mind if I join you? I've been cast out of my former social circle thanks to the lot of you."

"Welcome to the Social Pariah club then!" exclaimed Tatenashi while using her foot to push out an empty chair.

Mayuzumi took a moment to look at Maria who indifferently took a sip of her cola.

"Do I have something on my face?" asked the American.

The pinkette narrowed her eyes behind her glasses, "Yes. Evil."

Maria smiled at that. "No need to suck up to me, Kitty. I like you just fine. Sit down and eat."

Mayuzumi sighed while setting down her tray, "Could you please stop calling me that?" she said before sitting down.

"Nope. You're Kitty. She's Josie. That's Blue, and that's Tazzy. Everyone gets a cute nickname from me."

"What's yours then? Cruella?"

Josephine snickered, "I'm afraid that's simply not sufficient. I also somehow don't think she has it in her to skin dogs for their fur."

"Nope," said Maria before taking another sip of her drink. "I love dogs. I treat Humans like crap because they deserve it. I'd never hurt an animal."

"I've seen you eat meat…" muttered Jennifer.

"You're all being very relaxed…" said Mayuzumi. "Do you know how much trouble we're all still in?"

Maria shrugged. "No more than usual."

"Everyone still hates you! You haven't actually achieved anything!"

"Relax, Kitty. Just sit back and take it easy. We've got this."

Josephine sighed, "We're actually still in the process of figuring out a long-term strategy for dealing with our classmates."

"You'd better come up with something soon. Because if you people are the only ones I can sit with for lunch, I'm going to keep getting associated with you and get expelled! If that happens, my family will skin me alive!"

"Kitty. You need to relax. We've got this. Trust me," said Maria with a smug smile.

" **TRUST YOU?!"** she then covered her mouth and looked embarrassed by her outburst. "What have you done to earn my trust? You peeked up my skirt, you framed me for the sprinkler incident, and now, everyone in the class has lumped me in with you!"

Maria leaned forward and smiled a little too happily at the pinkette, "Damn, Kitty. You are _**SEXY**_ when you are angry."

"Don't even think of trying to hit on me!"

"Or what?" asked Maria with a suddenly very devious smirk.

"Let's not forget what you did, and what happened to Josephine because of it…" said Tatenahsi with narrowed eyes.

"...Josephine. I apologize to you for that. I know I have no right to ask your forgiveness, but I hope you'll give me the opportunity to earn it."

Josephine nodded to the Japanese girl, "I accept your apology. And you'll have the chance to earn my forgiveness."

"Hey everyone, I have someone I'd like you all to meet," announced McKenna who was still pulling Meiying by her arm. McKenna then pulled out a chair and forced her to sit down, which she did with a loud and very annoyed huff.

"This is Meiying Chang."

Meiying looked back up at McKenna before looking down, shaking her head. "I spent two years learning English. Every day. Nonstop, so I can talk to people who can't even say my name…"

Maria looked up at the new girl and widened her eyes. " **GOOD GOOGLY MOOGLY!"**

Tatenashi grinned, "I knew it. Here it comes!"

"Yes, Maria she'-" started McKenna.

"She's fucking beautiful!"

"Maria! How could you- Wait, what?"

"I mean yeah, clearly her face looks like Canadian bacon on avocado toast-"

"Hey! Don't use those two things together in a sentence!" yelled McKenna.

"But if you can see past it, she's beautiful!"

"That's very uncharacteristically nice of you..." observed Josephine.

"Well, thank you. It's nice to feel desirable. Your name is Maria, correct?"

"Yeah. Maria Cross. So how far down does that scar go? You've got a long sleeved turtleneck under what should be showing some sexy cleavage and shoulder there."

"It goes all the way."

"Good. So do I," said Maria with a wink.

Meiying couldn't help but crack a small smile with the half of her mouth that still worked as it was supposed to.

McKenna palmed her face, "I can't believe what I'm hearing…"

"Before this gets any more awkward… I believe introductions are in order. I'm Josephine Williams. This is Jennifer Hawkins, that's Koaroko Mayuzumi, and Tatenashi Sarashiki."

"Yes. We're classmates…" remarked Meiying while glaring daggers at the bluenette.

"Yep! Chang-chan is our class rep! Chang-chan? Chan-chan! Chang-chang! Ooof, say that three times fast!"

"My name is Zhāng Měiyīng…"

"I can't actually hear the difference," replied Tatenashi.

Meiying sighed, "The difference is…" she then stopped and looked up at Tatenashi to remember who she was talking to, "You know what? This time, I _really_ don't care anymore."

"If I understand how it works, the Chinese use the family name first, and the given name second. Is that correct?" asked Josephine.

Meiying nodded, "Yes. It is. Just like the Japanese."

"So would you prefer we call you Chang, or Mei-ying?"

"Měiyīng… Please. At least try harder here because Méi yíng means something else entirely. At the very least, keep the syllables together."

Jennifer couldn't help chuckling. "Now you're in a proper no win scenario."

"You speak mandarin?"

"Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ jiào Jennifer Hawkins. Hěn gāo xìng rèn shí nǐ!"

"I already knew who you were, Hawkins. But you speak it very well. Where did you learn?"

"From friends. I tutored their daughter, they taught me Mandarin."

"And they call me a show off when I speak other languages…" muttered Maria.

McKenna reached out and smacked the top of Maria's head. "That's because you _**DO**_ show off. Jenny's trying to make her feel more comfortable. There's a big difference. Now, did you get me food?"

Tatenashi slid her a plate. "We got Taiyaki!"

"What is this? Breaded fish?" she asked while examining the alien food.

"It's filled with bean paste. Try it, it's one of the best things in Japan!"

"Looks kinda fishy to me…" she muttered before taking a bite. "Oh my god this is delicious!"

"We didn't expect another person, so we didn't get anymore. I'm sorry," said Josephine to Meiying.

"It's fine. I'm not hungry."

"Yes you are. And you're gonna eat. Nobody here is going to be bothered by it."

"Bothered by what?" asked Josephine.

"Please don't say anything…" muttered Meiying to McKenna.

Tatenashi quickly started explaining, "Ever go to a dentist and they numb you up, and then you try to eat but you keep biting your cheek or leaking out of your mouth because you can't feel what you're doing?"

"Yes…" replied Josephine.

"I told her not to say anything, what makes you think you can?"

"You didn't say I couldn't say. Anyways. She's got that, all day, everyday. Nerve damage."

Meiying glared angrily at the bluenette. "Do you have no respect for personal boundaries?"

"Nope. None what-so-ever."

"She really doesn't…" muttered a rueful McKenna.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about dear. Maria can't keep her food in her mouth while she's eating either," remarked Josephine.

"Yeah, so it's- Hey!"

"The difference is that Maria's lack of manners is entirely her own fault. It seems nobody taught her better," remarked Jennifer.

While the rest of the table had a laugh at Maria's expense, Meiying felt the pain in her stomach intensify before she finally relented and set her lunch box on the table.

"Do you cook your own lunches?" asked Jennifer.

"Mostly just fried rice. Easy to eat," she said while opening up her box to retrieve her chopsticks. She then neatly set out a stack of a dozen or so napkins beside her box.

"I miss eating quality Chinese food. The girl I was tutoring, her parents owned a restaurant, I used to eat there all the time. My favorite food in the world came from their wok. But, they had problems. Then they started divorce proceedings. Then they shut down the business… And then the excrement hit the air circulation device…"

"My parents were also divorced. It's not easy for a child to watch their home literally fall apart…" said Meiying.

"You said they 'were' divorced? Did they get back together?" asked Josephine.

Meiying nodded, "Yes. After this happened," she said with a quick gesture to her face. "Maybe my almost dying helped them find something they thought they had lost." Meiying shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know for certain. But they were remarried five months ago."

"Well that's good," said Josephine with a smile. "Maybe-"

"If you're going to say 'maybe there's hope' for Rin's parents, I will slap you, Josie. Those two people didn't just lose their love for each other, they lost touch with their own humanity in the process. Some broken things aren't meant to be fixed. Sometimes, when something's broken, you just throw it away, and you don't look back."

"Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it part of Catholic teaching that divorce is a sin?"

"It is."

"Then why defend a divorce?"

"I'm defending my friend. The rest is God's business, not mine."

"That's convenient. So, when it comes to divorce, it's god's business, but when it comes to homosexuality, that's human's business?" asked Maria before sipping her drink.

Jennifer turned her blue eyes on Maria's reds, "I said what I said to you because I wanted to trigger you. Not because I actually believe it."

"At least you can own up to it. But I'm still waiting for an explanation."

"I just gave you one."

"I think she's looking for a broader explanation," said Josephine. "I'll admit, I'm curious too."

"In an effort to find my way out of this obvious minefield you've lead me into, all I can say is that it's something I struggle with as well. I can't rationalize hatred for people based on their sexuality, or anything else. There's too many contradictions and hypocrisies to wade through for me to have any kind of opinion on the matter."

"EWWWW! Is she a vampire?"

Maria turned her head to look up at the girls poking their heads over the bench seat.

"She's drooling blood! That's so gross!"

Meiying picked up a tissue and used it to wipe the side of her mouth.

"Eeeew! Why is there so much blood?!"

"Because she's so tasty she's eating herself," remarked Maria with an angry gleam in her eyes at the two girls whose heads were poking out above her.

"Maria! Friendly fire much?!" yelled McKenna.

"It's fine, Maria's insult was actually quite amusing…" muttered Meiying while wiping blood drops off the table.

"Now get back to your meals, before I do something you'll regret," threatened Maria.

"Like what?" asked one of the girls.

"Yeah. What're you gonna do about it? Put more plastic cups in our dorm?"

"Ever seen the Karate Kid?" she asked.

"No? Do we look like we have no lives?"

"Not yet, but I can fix that while I paint the fence."

"What? Paint the fe-"

Maria slapped both girls with a rapid wave of her hand.

"Now go fuck yourselves. Unless you wanna see what the Brazillian Jiu-jitsu version of 'wax on wax off' can do for your bikini lines?"

The two girls promptly vanished.

Josephine glared at the ravenette. "Maria… Mind yourself. Remember you're on thin ice."

"We're all on thin ice…" muttered McKenna.

"Oh look, the freaks just added a new cast member…" said Daniella as she walked past.

"Da, a melted China doll, how fitting," said Kuznetsova.

Meiying nodded to herself, "Well. Thank you all for your company," she said before she got up and started walking away.

"Wait!" yelled McKenna while standing up to go after her. "What're you doing? Don't let those bitches drive you off!"

"They didn't. I just don't want to get dragged into your conflicts. I have enough of my own problems without your enemies adding to them. Please sort out your own problems without getting me involved in them," she said before she started walking faster.

"Shit…" said McKenna after coming to a stop.

Tatenashi put a hand on McKenna's shoulders, "You tried."

"Yeah. But I'm not done yet."

Tatenashi looked up at McKenna's face, "That determination of yours is really sexy. Do you know that?"

McKenna turned around and started walking away. "And we're back to being creepy…"

* * *

After school, Josephine, Maria, McKenna, Tatenashi, Jennifer, and Mayuzumi were walking towards the arena for the duel against Daniella.

"Watch out!" yelled McKenna as she shoved Maria out of the way, but she tripped and fell flat on her butt.

"BITCH! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" yelled Maria at the top of her lungs while pushing herself up.

"There's a puddle. Wouldn't want you to drown," McKenna stated matter of factly.

"Oh very fucking funny!"

"It kinda is," snickered Tatenashi.

"Josie! Help me out here!"

"Sorry love, it is funny. How can you honestly not know how to swim?" asked Josephine.

"You can't swim?" asked Mayuzumi with an eyebrow raised at the little American.

"I'll tell y'all what I told them, I grew up in a part of the world where the water could kill you in up to two minutes. So smart people stay the fuck away from the water."

"They don't have indoor pools in your city? We can build those you know. We have the technology," remarked Mayuzumi.

"Yeah, of course we have indoor bodies of water. We freeze them solid for the greatest sport in the world!"

"Ice hockey!" exclaimed Maria and McKenna while giving each other a high five.

* * *

Josephine popped her neck while stretching her arms.

"How's your back doing, Josie?" asked Maria.

"Still sore. But I can manage."

McKenna nodded her head, "Just be careful you don't make it worse out there. It's not like she actually has a chance at beating you, but don't hurt yourself while kicking her to the curb, eh?"

"I'll do my very best not to- Ahhh! Ahhh!"

McKenna quickly stepped up to pull Josephine to a standing position after she tried and failed to bend down and touch her toes. "Yeah. This is what I'm talking about. How the hell do you plan to fight a battle when you can't even bend forward?"

"I'll just have to be smart about it, won't I?"

"I don't even know if I can swing my sword without putting any strain on my lower back. Isn't there some kind of a rule that says someone can fight instead of you if you're injured?" asked Maria while looking around until her eyes finally fell on Jennifer.

The Australian shook her head, "No. You fight or you forfeit. Substitutions aren't allowed. I hear they used to be, but people kept abusing it until the rule was done away with."

"I am NOT forfeiting to her! That's not going to happen!" exclaimed Josephine.

"Nobody asked you too," said Maria, "I just don't want you to fuck yourself up. So. Stick to your beam cannon, and don't get into close quarters unless you really have to. Alright?"

"I'll try."

"And if you do end up in close combat, don't use your big swords, yeah?" added Jennifer.

"Are you going to give me a pedicure before my duel? Or may I go ahead and get started now?"

* * *

Josephine stared across the arena at the Infinite Stratos piloted by Daniella Arad with narrowed eyes. "So was that your reward for stealing my watch? They haven't asked for it back yet?"

Daniella grinned across at Josephine. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Meanwhile in the observation room, Jennifer growled in her throat, "Fucking cunts! Who gives a total novice a Fang Quake?!"

"If it's worth anything, Miss Hawkins, her unit seems to be compliant with academy regulations. No evidence of any unauthorized weapons," explained Maya from her control station.

"Then how does she plan to beat Josie? How does she plan to get it to move? Fly? Or anything?" asked Maria.

"Did you ever get to pilot one of those?" asked McKenna to the little American beside her.

"Yeah. A few times. They're bulky, fat, slow, heavy, and a perfect example of how not to make an I.S."

"They have the largest market share in the world you know?"

"Just because it came out first. That's literally the only reason for that," replied Jennifer.

"Miss Williams, Miss Arad, are you both ready to begin?" asked Maya over the communications line.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Josephine.

"Yes, ma'am," replied Daniella.

"Then I'll start the countdown."

Josephine looked up at the large screen which started counting down from three.

Two.

One.

Begin!

Josephine raised her right arm and aimed her beam cannon at her opponent, pulling the trigger without hesitation.

Daniella was immediately forced into the defensive and began to move in erratic strafing movements to throw off Josephine's aim.

This however was only marginally successful as she was able to lead her opponent and hit her target with practiced precision. Quickly draining precious points from Daniela's shield.

In an attempt to even the odds Arad accessed the Fang Quake's weapons and selected the shotgun while charging forward toward the blonde terror. She closed within ten feet before pulling the trigger on the shotgun without bracing for the kick or properly taking aim.

The result was the blast from the shotgun kicked the barrel sky high and missed Josephine by three meters. While on the other end of the gun the results were more entertaining for the spectators.

Arad went from full forward momentum to sliding across the field on her back in a daze with the shotgun tumbling to the dirt behind her.

Josephine watched the Israeli girl slide unceremoniously across the dirt and couldn't help but grin in joy at the sight. And without mercy she took the opportunity to bring her cannon up and opened fire on her defenseless target.

One round, the projectile struck home and startled Arad.

Two rounds, one in the chest and one in the leg as Daniella began to roll over and scrambled to her feet.

Three rounds, two in the back and one in the dirt as her opponent finally managed to dive forward and avoid the last round, a thick cloud of dust was kicked up by the heavy Infinite Stratos.

As Arad saw her shield drain quickly to two hundred and six points remaining, she realized that she had made a horrible decision and curled up tightly. She began to pray that the bombardment would end. The constant rain of energy kicked up even more dirt and dust, completely clouding the area and obscuring Arad and the Fang Quake from all view.

Josephine saw this and disregarded the camouflage, her IS switched viewing modes to highlight her target in the HUD and kept firing with all the anger and unadulterated fury she felt for what had been done to her at the forefront of her mind. The first thing that crossed her mind was that Daniella was finally getting what she deserved. But as she kept firing something in her mind stopped her. She held her fire. It took a few moments, but the dust flowing around the arena floor slowly dissipated.

As it died down, Josephine saw her opponent, scared and curled up, muttering prayers in her language for the energy barrage to stop. A quick look at the massive view screen showed that Daniella still had eighty-six points of energy left in her shield and Josephine knew it wouldn't take much to finish her off.

She turned back to her opponent and raised her cannon again to finish the fight but as her finger tightened around the trigger she stopped. The sight of this scared girl in front of her shook her out of her rage and hatred. Replaced with the logic and compassion that her friends knew her for. She felt sick to her stomach at what she had let herself do.

"This is more embarrassing than my Bat Mitzvah… JUST FINISH THIS!" screamed Daniella.

Josephine shook her head, "No dear. This IS your Bat Mitzvah. Today, you are a woman," she said indifferently. "Stand up! After what you did to me, you don't get to lay there and cower."

Daniella struggled to get the bulky frame up onto its feet, but then fell flat on her face.

" **I SAID GET UP!"** screamed Josephine.

Daniella struggled with the movements, and to find her way around the bulk of her own machine before she managed to get the unit to stand up again.

"Next lesson," she said while flipping out the giant sword attached to her beam cannon. "Start running."

"What?!"

"This'll be much more fun for me if you run, and you clearly need the practice."

"Are you a sadist?! Just fucking finish the duel!"

"Why don't you just forfeit?"

"Because that would be even more humiliating!"

"Then you'd better start running, dear. Because before this is all over, you're going to learn to handle that I.S. and stop embarrassing yourself, and the rest of us. And you're going to learn the same way we did. The hard way."

* * *

Later on in the dorm room. Josephine lay on the bed, on her belly, with Maria straddling her legs and massaging her lower back with cream.

"You're really quite good at this. Thank you so much Maria…"

"Don't thank me. I'm gonna punish you after you're all better. What did we tell you NOT to do that you went ahead and did anyway without it ever becoming necessary?"

"I know… I know… But I couldn't help it. I didn't want to bully her, but I also didn't want to just let it go…"

"One to the face. One beam round straight to the face, and it would have all been over, and you wouldn't be in so much pain right now. But no. You had to actually start teaching her how to use her I.S. in the middle of a freaking duel… The fuck is wrong with you?!"

"I don't know… Maybe I just hope that she'll think twice before she tries something like that again because now she knows I'm not made of evil. Like you."

"Yeah. Sure. She didn't pick on you because you're evil, Josie. She did it because you had a weakness she could exploit. That was it."

"Yes. But where would be the honor in lowering myself to her level? I have to be better than that. I have to be better than her. If I can't stay true to myself and my own ideals even when I'm angry and seeing red, then how can I ever hope to achieve any of my goals in life?"

"I respect that about you," she said while firmly rubbing the medicated cream into her muscles. "There might have been a time when I might have thought that way. But the world made sure to teach me that ideals, honor, and what you'd probably call 'fair play' were concepts imposed on the strong by the weak in order to artificially level the playing field."

"You fight dirty, and yet I defeated you."

"You won't next time. I'll be ready for you. As long as you live to fight again, you learn from your defeats, and apply the lessons to your next battle. That's how you become stronger."

"Maria, I wish you'd tell me just what it is that happened to make you so-"

"Hey! We're back!" exclaimed Tatenashi.

"We brought you a back brace from the doctor's office and some-" started McKenna and then widened her amber eyes at the scene on Josephine's bed. "What the hell are you doing, Maria?!"

"This isn't what it looks like!" she exclaimed. "I know it looks like I'm giving her a massage, but we're actually having sex!"

"Very funny…" muttered Josephine. "Please don't stop, Maria. This is so wonderful. You should massage them next."

"No thank you! I don't need that pervert getting her jollies from touching me like that!" exclaimed McKenna.

"I derive exactly ZERO sexual gratification from the suffering of my friend!" said Maria.

Josephine sighed blissfully, "It's true. She's a masochist. She enjoys being on the receiving end of pain and suffering…"

"That's not exactly true…" mumbled Maria.

"Which part?" asked McKenna who was studying Maria with a critical eye.

Maria turned her attention back to the massage she was giving Josephine. "Well… When pain is the only thing you can feel, there are only two ways out. Kill yourself, or learn to like it…"

"Alright. That got heavy. How about I cook you all something nice to eat?" suggested Tatenashi.

"Are you actually any good at cooking?" asked McKenna.

"Yes. I am!" she gleefully exclaimed. "Provided you have anything here worth cooking with?"

"I'll help you then. We only have stuff for whatever Josie and I know how to make. We'll figure something out."

"Cooking together huh? It's like we're already married!" exclaimed a happy Tatenashi.

"Stop making things weird!" yelled McKenna.

Josephine sighed contentedly and smiled, "All in all, I'd say I'm quite pleased with how my life is going right now."


End file.
